


Time And Again

by scxlias



Series: Time and Again Universe [1]
Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Batfamily Feels, M/M, Police Officer Dick Grayson, bruce is just trying his best, not everyone sees it yet though
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-07
Updated: 2018-01-27
Packaged: 2019-02-11 14:53:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 28,303
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12937650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scxlias/pseuds/scxlias
Summary: Dick Grayson comes to live with Bruce Wayne on a Tuesday afternoon when he’s nine years old.It’s a Tuesday like any other, so Bruce settles the boy in and leaves him in Alfred’s capable hands after dinner and heads out for patrol. Gotham’s underworld does not take a day off, and therefore Batman cannot either.Dick awakes in the middle of the night and Bruce isn’t there. Alfred calms Dick down and sits with him and assures him that Bruce would have been there if he could and Dick believes him. Alfred's words can only maintain that belief for so long.Or, the one where Bruce doesn't tell Dick that he's Batman at first and things spiral out of control until people start communicating like adults.





	1. Jason

**Author's Note:**

> so this is loosely based off the answer i gave to _[this](http://grxysxns.tumblr.com/post/167648583491/tumblrfrostbites-au-questions-if-dick-grayson)_ post on my tumblr, speculating what i thought would happen if bruce had never told dick that he was batman, and told in snapshots of important events from dick's point of view.
> 
> this is an au! some things in this don't exactly line up with a canon continuity because without a robin, batman operates very differently, and therefore things happen differently as a consequence, so some details will definitely take a slightly different route!

Dick Grayson comes to live with Bruce Wayne on a Tuesday afternoon when he’s nine years old.

It’s a Tuesday like any other, so Bruce settles the boy in and leaves him in Alfred’s capable hands after dinner and heads out for patrol. Gotham’s underworld does not take a day off, and therefore Batman cannot either.

Dick awakes in the middle of the night screaming and Bruce isn’t there. Alfred calms Dick down and sits with him until he can close his eyes without seeing flashes of crumpled bodies and he falls into restless sleep once again. Alfred assures him that Bruce would have been there if he could and Dick believes him.

But it doesn’t take long for Dick to stop believing.

Alfred is the one to send him off to school every morning, Bruce is always still asleep or too busy with something for Wayne Enterprises. Alfred picks him up from school as well, and more often than not, Bruce isn’t around when Dick returns to the Manor. Dick does his homework on his own, with Alfred’s help sometimes. He spends time alone in the gym practicing flying, because he can’t let that die with his parents. He finds some way to entertain himself when he isn’t doing that, and if he’s lucky, Bruce is home in time for dinner, and Dick will plaster a huge smile on his face and rush to greet his guardian, to ask him about his day. Most of the time Bruce will answer with a small smile. Sometimes he doesn’t. Dick tries to smile all the time anyway. And then most nights Bruce will bid Dick goodnight later in the evening, and then he disappears and Dick is left alone with Alfred again.

The day after Tony Zucco is found beaten and bound on the steps of Gotham PD headquarters, Dick says how much he wishes it could have been him to bring Zucco to justice for killing his parents, but that he’s just glad that he’s been caught. He thought Bruce would have… some kind of reaction. Some words of support for Dick. Words of advice. Anything, really. But he just scrunches up his nose and disappears even earlier that night, claiming he has serious business to attend to. Even this news isn’t enough to make Bruce stay. Dick can’t deny that he’s upset about that. Alfred tries to comfort him, but Dick knows that ‘serious business’ means that Alfred will just have to disappear after Bruce soon too. He should be happy that his parents’ killer has been found, that he can’t hurt anyone else.

All he feels is lonely.

Wayne Manor is too big and too empty and too quiet for Dick. Too echoey and lonely and old and formal.

And he’s not even really a Wayne.

Dick… he doesn’t belong.

He’s grateful that Bruce got him out of that awful, awful place they’d stuck him before, but he doesn’t like this.

Bruce Wayne might be okay with the echoey, empty old manor, but Dick Grayson was not meant to live this way. He was not meant for faking smiles for old ladies who pinch his cheeks too hard at parties and listening to how he might take over Wayne Enterprises one day and china worth more than everything he’s ever owned. Dick Grayson was meant for travelling and trapezes and a ‘family’ too big to fit in a single room. Dick Grayson was meant to fly.

But he still plasters a smile on his face each evening when Bruce comes home from work and tries to find some way to get Bruce to stick around just a little longer that night. It doesn’t work, and with every failed attempt, Dick’s next smile is just a little less bright.

By the time he’s fifteen, Dick is spending nights with friends from school and spending evenings in the gym training on the uneven bars and the trapeze Alfred set up and taking meals in his room, the only part of the manor that doesn’t feel so old and dusty. Anything to avoid noticing how… alone he is all the time.

When he’s a month away from turning sixteen, he can’t take it anymore. Dick moves out.

He’s still Bruce’s ward. Let him keep getting good press for his kindness in taking in a circus kid, an orphan just like he was. Let him be lauded for the excellent parenting he must have done to be able to trust his ward to stay in his Gotham City penthouse on his own so often. Dick doesn’t know how the press has missed that he lives in the penthouse permanently now, and he doubts Bruce even noticed he’d moved out at all. But let the press think what they want. Dick doesn’t care. As long as he’s not alone in that huge manor anymore, he doesn’t care what the press is running about his relationship with Bruce.

The questions nag at the back of his mind though. Keep him awake thinking at night sometimes. Why did Bruce take him in if he had no intention of spending any time with him? Why take in a kid you didn’t want? There were easier ways to get good press. Easier ways by far. So why had Bruce done this? And what the hell was he doing all the time? What was so important that he left Dick alone in that godforsaken manor so often? If he had something so important going on, why take in a child?

Dick thinks himself in circles and never gets anywhere.

~*~

Not three months after Dick moves out, he gets a phone call from Alfred that sends his stomach lurching.

“Master Richard, do you have a moment to speak?” Alfred’s voice sounds over his phone’s speaker where it’s set to the side of the stove next to Dick.

“Yeah, Alfie, what’s up? Does Bruce need me to get all dolled up for some gala or something?” Dick jokes, though there’s a hint of bitterness he can’t keep out of his voice at the mention of his guardian.

“Nothing of the sort, sir,” Alfred says, and his tone has changed enough to make Dick tense.

“What happened.”

“Well there’s a new face around the Manor, Master Richard,” Alfred says, and Dick finally pins down what changed about Alfred’s tone. He’s wary. If Dick didn’t know better, he’d think Alfred was worried about telling Dick whatever it is he has to say. Dick can guess what it is and, well, he understands Alfred’s hesitation.

He takes a deep breath and tells himself his hands aren’t shaking. “Oh, really?”

“The papers went through yesterday morning. I was hoping Master Bruce would have called you himself, but it seems he’s gotten a bit caught up in things.” And isn’t that just typical Bruce. Dick isn’t surprised. He is surprised though, at the news Alfred is delivering. “Master Jason was officially adopted yesterday. You’ve got a new little brother.”

Dick drops the wooden spoon he was using to cook. Pasta sauce splatters all over the floor. He barely notices.

He cannot believe Bruce. He can’t believe that even after he messed up so much in raising Dick, if letting Alfred take care of him all the time could even be called raising him, even then, Bruce was stupid enough to go and take in another kid. He can’t believe that Bruce is stupid enough to take in another child who will be confined to the empty, echoey, _lonely_ old manor. And he can’t deny that he’s just a little bitter that Bruce actually adopted Jason when Dick is still nothing more than just Bruce’s ward, despite having lived with Bruce for half his life.

“Master Richard, are you quite alright?”

Alfred’s voice snaps Dick back to the present and he shakes his head to clear it, taking a deep breath.

“Yeah, fine” he says with false cheer, “Jason. Tell me a little bit about him,” Dick requests, because what else can he say? How else can he respond to this news? Is the air getting thinner? It feels a little like he can’t breathe.

He tells himself he’s fine and listens to Alfred tell him about Jason Todd, his thirteen year old new brother, who Bruce ran into at the Gotham City Police Department while paying Jim Gordon a visit. Jason had been arrested that same morning for trying to boost the tires off a car a block away from the precinct, and was in the middle of picking the lock of his cuffs when Bruce had come across him. Rather than letting him be sent to a foster home, or worse, a juvenile detention center, Bruce had taken him in. Just a few weeks later, he’s no longer Jason Todd, but Jason Todd-Wayne and Dick had only just found out he existed. Dick wonders how he could’ve gone so long without hearing anything about this. When Bruce had taken him in, it’d been all over the news. But for the past few weeks, there’s only been debates about the Gotham Bat and his violent methods of preventing crime and if he was crossing a line, even if he didn’t kill. No room for the second orphan Bruce Wayne had scooped off the streets of Gotham.

It takes Dick a moment to realize Alfred’s stopped talking, and he makes himself respond, thanking Alfred for the call and claiming he has to get back to the dinner he was cooking. It’s ruined now and the only thing he’s really going to do is throw it all out, but he really just needs a moment to process all of this. He has a brother. Well, in a sense.

But that’s irrelevant. No matter what legal documents say, Dick’s going to make sure this kid has the best older brother in the world, because Dick knows there’s no guarantee his father is going to actually be a father. Too busy with work and his secret dealings that had him disappearing all the time.

Dick is going to do everything in his power to make sure that Jason isn’t alone.

Which is how he finds himself at the Manor gate for the first time in months the next afternoon. Alfred had said the kid likes to read, so Dick had spent two hours the day before looking through the shelves at a bookstore for the small stack of paperbacks in his hands, a ‘welcome to the family’ gift of sorts.

It takes him twenty minutes after Alfred lets him in to actually find Jason in the sprawling manor, too many doors and halls to search through before he finds the boy hunched over a desk tucked in the corner of a room that’s hardly ever been used in the past. It’s clearly been used a bit in the past few weeks, though, Jason’s school things scattered about in neat little piles. Dick knocks on the door even though it’s open.

Jason tenses up immediately.

“Who are you?” he asks, eyes narrowing as he turns around to look at Dick.

Dick smiles and steps into the room, sitting in one of the over stuffed chairs up against the opposite wall. “Technically, your new big brother. Dick Grayson. It’s nice to meet you, Jason.”

Jason’s expression relaxes a bit, though his posture is still tense, like he’s ready to bolt if Dick even looks at him wrong.

When Jason doesn’t say anything, Dick continues. “I’m sorry I didn’t come by sooner. I… well Bruce must’ve gotten caught up in work and finalizing papers and everything. Alfred only just called me about all this yesterday. I brought you something to try to start making up for not starting out so great at this whole ‘big brother’ thing,” Dick says with a small shrug. He stands then, reaching out to hand Jason the small stack of books. Jason accepts them with a raised eyebrow and a skeptical look. “Alfie said you like to read, so I did my best. They’re all new except that top one. That one was one Pop Haly gave me when I was still a kid in the circus. Birthday present I think? He said it’d be good reading once I could understand it. Left the circus before I ever could though. But I figure, I’ve got a family to share it with again now, right?” Dick says softly, watching as Jason’s fingers trail gently over the short note Pop Haly had written on the inside of the cover.

Jason’s eyes are wide as he reads it and then looks up at Dick. “I. Wow. Thanks, Dick. I kinda thought you just didn’t give a shit when you didn’t come around but, this is. Thanks. Promise I’ll take good care of it,” he mumbles, a little like he doesn’t know how to respond.

Dick smiles in response, taking a seat again, tucking his feet underneath him. “I trust you with it kid. You’re my little brother after all,” he says softly, trying to find the words to say what he wants. He can’t bring himself to say anything more and they lapse into awkward silence until Jason shifts and glances back at the papers he’s got strewn all over the desk. He seems to be having an internal debate for a long minute while Dick watches on quietly. Jason lets out a heavy sigh and looks forlornly at the notebook in the center of the desk before turning to look at Dick again.

“Could you maybe stick around and gimme a hand with this?” Jason asks like it pains him to do so. Dick’s expression softens and he nods, dragging up a chair to take a look. He’s sure to leave Jason plenty of space, and Dick notices him relax minutely when Dick doesn’t press any closer. “Alfie said you’re real good at this sort of thing, right? So look,” he points at the work he’s done out already. “I can’t make this damn problem work. Think you can get it?”

Dick holds out a hand for the original problem sheet and the notebook and shuffles just a little closer so that he can look at the papers with Jason. Jason doesn’t shift away, and hey, that’s a start.

Bruce still hasn’t come home by the time Alfred comes to get them to let them know dinner is being served, so Dick sticks around so Jason’s not all by himself with the butler. As great as Alfred is, it can feel lonely with only him around. Jason doesn’t talk much, but he sits next to Dick and smiles when Dick tells him stories of the circus, about Zitka the elephant and performing and his face lights up when Dick promises that one day, he’ll teach Jason how to fly.

It’s not much, but Dick thinks he’ll count the night as a win.


	2. Barbara

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> jason seems to be doing a lot better at the manor than dick did growing up, so he's more than a little surprised when jason shows up at the penthouse asking to stay.

School work picks up after that and Dick doesn’t get to go back to the manor for a while, though he checks up on Jason every couple of days, making sure he texts his new brother often, so he knows that he hasn’t forgotten him. 

Jason always texts back with a short update on how he’s been doing in school, or if anything interesting has happened around the Manor. It’s mostly how he’s doing in school. A couple times Jason texts him reminders from Alfred, to pick up groceries, or to remember it’s laundry day, or to stay on top of his own schoolwork. 

It seems like things are alright, and Dick’s really happy that Jason seems to be doing better in the Manor than Dick had. 

So it comes as a huge surprise when there’s a knock at the penthouse door a month and a half later, and Dick answers it, only to find Jason waiting there, wringing the strap of a duffel bag in his hands. 

“I wanna stay here,” Jason says as soon as Dick’s opened the door. 

Dick just stares at him for a moment, before blurting out, “What the hell?” 

Jason searches Dick’s face for a second before he shakes his head and takes a step back, scratching the back of his neck. Dick’s heart breaks a little bit. He knows Jason was living on the streets, fending for himself, and that anything is better than that, but it’s still so unfair that he’s only fourteen and he’s only been at the Manor for a couple months and he already wants to leave. Dick isn’t really one to talk, but he’s not really thinking about that.

Jason steps back again like he’s going to turn tail and run. “Sorry, Dick, I shouldn’ta come here. I shoulda just stayed at the Manor. This is stupid,” he mutters angrily, like he’s chastising himself, and then he starts to retreat.

Dick steps out into the short hallway after him. “Jason, wait, no, come in,” he says, tugging at the strap of Jason’s duffel with a couple fingers until he turns around and follows Dick back into the apartment. “Come on, kid, what’s going on? I thought you were doing okay?”

“I’m barely three years younger than you, I’m not a kid,” Jason mumbles, crossing his arms over his chest after he dumps his bag on the floor. Dick sits and Jason reluctantly slumps into a chair across the coffee table from him.

“What’s going on, Jay?”

“Bruce hasn’t come home for three nights,” Jason admits finally, and Dick’s jaw clenches. He can’t be serious. That’s ridiculous and unacceptable and Dick’s slowly working his way from worried about Jason to  _ absolutely furious _ with Bruce. “Alf said he got called away for a last minute business trip, but this is the second time in the past month it’s gone on for more than a day and he’s never around and I hate it, Dick! I hate it! I mean, I figured he just wanted me around for good press but I thought. I dunno. I thought he’d at least be around sometimes. That big old house is too empty all the time and I can’t stand it!” And doesn’t Dick know exactly how that feels. 

He makes a decision then. Taking a few deep breaths to control the anger he’s feeling towards Bruce, Dick leans in a little closer to Jason.  “Alright, Jay, I’ll make you a deal. I’ll call Alfred so he doesn’t freak. You can stay here for a few days. But you have to go to school, you’ve got to keep getting all your work done, and you’ve gotta go back once Bruce gets back. Not right away, but you have to go back, okay? This is just for a few days.” 

Jason nods eagerly and Dick gives him a soft smile. Good. He’s got the big brother thing down pretty well, if he says so himself. 

He digs his phone out of his pocket to call Alfred and squares that away, before sending a series of angry texts to Bruce before he can think better of it, asking why he’d leave without telling him, and more importantly without telling Jason. 

He doesn’t get an answer, but he wasn’t exactly expecting one anyway. 

For the six days Jason stays with him, Dick settles into an easy routine. He wakes up to the sound of Jason clattering around in the kitchen rather than his alarm clock. He showers and gets dressed quickly, before heading into the kitchen, where Jason always has got a pot of coffee on. Jason’ll smile at him and head off to get showered and dressed himself and Dick’ll make them both a quick breakfast while he does. It feels natural to move around his brother like this, feels more like it was back in the circus, when everyone was moving around each other with practiced ease, set in familiar routines to train and rehearse and perform. This feels like home. Dick feels a weight lifting off of his chest the longer it goes on. They go back to the penthouse each afternoon and do schoolwork or watch mindless television and then they’ll make dinner together or order take out and it’s good. This is the first time since his parent’s died that Dick really feels like he has a family.

It comes to an end, of course, but Dick still feels happier than he has in a long time when he drives Jason back out to the Manor. Alfred greets them with a smile and tries to get Dick to stay for dinner, though he politely refuses, not really wanting to face Bruce. 

He never did get an answer to the texts he’d sent when Jason first showed up at the penthouse. 

He says his goodbyes and heads back to the penthouse on his own. 

A month later, Jason shows up again, duffel in hand. He stays for four days this time. 

Two weeks after that, he comes to stay for a night. 

Three weeks after that and it’s five days. 

Another two weeks and it’s a whole week. 

It keeps happening. Bruce keeps disappearing on business and not informing anyone but Alfred and Jason keeps showing up at Dick’s door, and Dick falls back into an easy routine, each day with his brother making him feel lighter, even if it all goes back to the way it was whenever Jason leaves. 

A week before Dick turns eighteen, there’s a knock again and Dick opens the door expecting to see Jason with his duffel prepared to spend a few nights. What he finds is Jason with a large duffel and a suitcase, a book in his hand. 

Dick recognizes it as the book he’d given Jason the first day he’d met him, the one he’d gotten as a gift from Pop Haly, Jason thrusts the book towards Dick, unable to look his older brother in the eye as he does. 

“Alf drove me here. So, I’m not running away, really. But I’m not staying at the Manor anymore. You can either let me stay here or I’m gonna find somewhere else to stay,” Jason says, determination in his voice. 

Just like the very first time Jason had come to the penthouse, Dick tugs Jason into the penthouse by the strap of his duffel, dragging the suitcase in after them and shutting the door. 

Jason drops his bag carelessly on the floor, but keeps the book held carefully in his hands, still unable to look at Dick. 

And god, Jason’s only fifteen, he shouldn’t have to be dealing with all of this. But then again, Dick was only sixteen when he moved out on his own. At least Jason’s got him to lean on. 

Still. 

Jason shouldn’t have to lean on him. 

They both should be leaning on their father. Not each other.

But life doesn’t always give people what they want. So Dick pushes the book in Jason’s hands back towards him and gives him a gentle smile and tells him, “Keep it. I think you’ll give it a little more love than I will.”

Jason scoffs and calls him a sap, but he still holds the book tightly against his chest. Dick counts it a win. 

“Why don’t you go unpack your things? I’ll make us some dinner.” Jason pulls a face and Dick amends his suggestion. “You go unpack and I’ll order us a pizza?”

Jason smiles at that, a small shy thing and Dick has never wanted to hug his little brother more. But Jason’s not really a touchy feely guy like Dick is, so Dick lets Jason go to his room without further protest.

Dick places an order with Jason’s favorite pizza place and debates with himself for a few minutes before sending out three texts. One goes to Alfred so that he knows Jason is safe and staying with Dick. One goes to Bruce demanding to know where he is this time, and the third goes to Bruce when he’s gone thirty minutes with no response, telling him that Jason’s going to stay with him for good, and not to try to change it.

Jason comes out of his room then, so Dick plasters on a smile and tells Jason to go pick something for them to watch. They spend the evening watching cheesy movies that Dick enjoys and Jason enjoys making fun of, and Dick pretends that everything is fine. That it’s completely normal that Jason’s going to be living with him. 

As much as Dick loves Jason, he’s barely eighteen, and now he’s got another person to take care of, no matter how self-reliant Jason is. It’s a lot to take in all at once. 

But they fall back into their normal routine easily. Jason wakes Dick up by dropping a too-sweet mug of coffee the next morning, and Dick gets up and gets ready and makes breakfast and them both to school and as stressful as the idea of taking care of his brother is, the routine is comforting. 

Alfred calls them at eight o’clock that night and every night after that for a considerable amount of time. Sometimes it’s nothing more than a brief wish of good luck on some upcoming school assignment, but it makes Dick feel infinitely better. 

After a couple weeks, Dick’s not stressed at all anymore. He and Jason are brother’s and Dick has a real family and this is a good thing, he decides, worries about how he’ll do raising a fifteen year old aside. 

Three months after Jason comes to live with him, Dick graduates high school, and Alfred and Jason are the only ones there. Bruce had called that morning and apologized, said he was proud of Dick for getting here and that he wished he could be there but he got called away for business. He’d been in the middle of saying something else, but Dick had hung up on him. He hadn’t wanted that to taint the happy memory of the day with another fight with Bruce. He’d been having too many of those lately. 

So he walks across the stage to the sound of Jason’s raucous cheering, leaves the ceremony only to be swept into a tight hug by Alfred, is nearly knocked off his feet seconds later when Jason grabs him as soon as Alf lets go. 

Bruce isn’t there, but he’s happy anyway. 

~*~

A week before Dick starts at the police academy and Jason starts his sophomore year of high school, Alfred invites them to dinner at the Manor. Bruce asks Dick to remind him what field of study he’s going into at Gotham University. 

Dick reminds him that he’s going to the police academy, not to a college, and Bruce freezes. 

“So you’ll carry a gun?” 

Dick furrows his eyebrows in confusion and nods. “That’s kind of part of the job.”

The argument that follows echoes around the whole Manor and ends when Bruce shouts at Dick to leave and never show his face around there again. Dick stares at Bruce in stunned silence for a beat and then two before he storms out of the room, collecting Jason and thanking Alfred before hurrying back out to his car. 

Things’ll be fine, he tells himself. Six months and he’ll have a job and then he won’t have to rely on Bruce at all. He’ll save up enough to move out of the penthouse and get a nice little apartment for him and Jason, dip into his trust fund if he has to, he doesn’t care. He’ll figure it out. 

Alfred calls them the next night, and for the first time in months, Dick doesn’t answer. 

Jason does and he stays on the line for longer than their calls normally go. Dick can’t take it after a few minutes. He grabs his coat and mutters an excuse to Jay and takes off out the door, no particular destination in mind until he gets to his favorite coffee shop and quite literally runs into a cute redhead walking out of the shop on the phone. Dick’s fine, but he’s also spilled coffee all over the girl in question. 

She shouts in surprise and drops her phone and the now-empty coffee cup and Dick feels awful. 

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry, I should’ve been more careful where I was going,” Dick says at the same time as the girl says, “Oh no, don’t worry, it’s not that bad, it’s okay.”

Dick leans down and picks up her phone, only to close his eyes and sigh when he realizes the screen’s cracked and that the girl was on the phone with her father. 

He hands it back to her with a wince and gathers the cup she’d dropped as she pulls her shirt away from her skin. She glances between the phone and the cafe she’d just left and her shirt like she can’t decide what to deal with first. Finally, she takes the phone and apologizes to her dad and hangs up and then glances down at her shirt. 

“Hey, at least you’re wearing black, it won’t stain?” Dick tries to joke, but it falls flat. “Okay. Bad timing. I’m so sorry. I’ll get you a new coffee and I’ll pay for the cost of replacing your phone screen,” he offers, and then before the girl can say anything, he glances down at her shirt and adds, “And I’ll pay you for the shirt I ruined.” 

He rushes it out before he thinks about how much he seems like an entitled rich kid, throwing money at a problem, and then he winces at the look she’s giving him. 

“I’m so sorry,” he says softly, scrubbing a hand over his face. “Let me just get you a new coffee to start…” he trails off, realizing he doesn’t know the girl’s name. 

“Barbara.”

He relaxes minutely as he steps into the coffee shop with her, and hands her napkins to clean the spill from her shirt as best she can. 

“Dick,” he blurts out, then smacks himself in the forehead. “Sorry, that’s not… I mean that’s just… my name. My name is Dick. I’m so sorry, that sounded so bad.”

For a half a second, Dick thinks she’s going to run away from him and then she bursts out laughing. 

It’s one of the nicest sounds Dick’s ever heard. He smiles then and it’s genuine and suddenly, he’s not thinking about the argument with Bruce anymore. 

“It seems like you’re having a rough day there, Dick,” Barbara says. “Let me buy you a coffee.” Dick can’t do anything more than nod dumbly, even though moments ago he was saying he would replace the coffee he’d just spilled all over her.

Barbara buys them both coffee, and sits with Dick in a tiny booth tucked in the back corner of the shop until it closes. It’s the most fun Dick’s had in a while, sitting there and getting to know Barbara. She’s a fantastic listener and has enough interesting stories that Dick finds himself listening to her and forgetting everything else. He almost forgets to text Jason to tell him he’ll be back a little late. 

He ends up walking Barbara back to her apartment, and he leaves with her number and the promise that he’s going to see her again, because he had promised to fix her phone screen after all. 

Dick’s still smiling when he gets back to the penthouse. Jason had been planning on telling him about the conversation he’d had with Alfred, about how Dick and Bruce should talk out the problem they’d fought over yesterday. He takes one look at Dick’s smile and asks who the lucky lady is instead. 

Dick’s smile only grows as he flops down on the couch next to him, and Jason can’t bring himself to regret the decision. 

~*~

Dick and Barbara never date, but a it’s a very near thing. He does take her to get the screen of her phone replaced, and that’s when he learns she’s the daughter of the police commissioner, and when she learns he’s the son of one of the richest men in the world. She’s a little surprised that Dick hadn’t lead with it, and when she says so, Dick just shrugs and tries to play it off, but it leads into the deepest conversation he’s had with anyone in a long time. She comes back to the penthouse with him, and ends up meeting Jason and then she ends up staying for dinner. 

Jason says he approves, which is all Dick needs to work up the courage to ask her out on a date. 

They try that three times before Dick realizes that, even though they’ve only recently started spending time together, Babs keeps way too many secrets for him to be comfortable with. 

That doesn’t stop Barbara from becoming the closest friend Dick’s ever had outside the circus. She fits into his life so quickly and so naturally that by the time Dick graduates from the police academy six months after they meet, Barbara is filling the seat beside Jason and Alfred. She’s all but family by that point.

Dick’s heart swells when he catches sight of them during the ceremony and the weight on his shoulders feels a little lighter. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as always, i'm on tumblr at _[grxysxns](http://grxysxns.tumblr.com/)_ , come scream at me.


	3. Tim

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> it's late at night in downtown gotham, so dick's more than a little surprised to find a child waiting for him outside his apartment building

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this one's a little shorter than the previous two chapters, but hey! we finally get to meet tim!

Dick starts working at the GCPD not long after graduation, and it’s exhausting and Dick hates that sometimes his shifts keep him from seeing Jason as much as he’d like, but Jason always forgives him when he comes home late muttering apologies, like he knows that Dick needs that reassurance, and Dick’s  _ helping _ people and he’s happy. 

Barbara stops by on his lunch breaks sometimes, takes him out to eat. On days Jason doesn’t have school, he’ll come by too and things are good. 

He’s gotten so settled into just being a cop-people on the force don’t treat him any differently because of Bruce and he loves it-that when he comes home to someone outside his apartment building asking if he’s Bruce Wayne’s son, he honestly doesn’t know how to respond for a moment. 

He looks at the person asking him and gets even more confused. 

It’s a child, a boy barely twelve years old, with a file thicker than some of Dick’s work files clutched to his chest. He’s by himself. 

Dick’s protective instincts kick into overdrive and he ushers the kid into the building and off the street. This might be a nicer part town, but no Gotham streets are safe at night. 

“Hey, yeah, I’m Dick Grayson,” he finally says when he’s got the boy inside, crouching down so he’s at the same level with him. 

The boy glances at his uniform, squints at the badge and then at his face and seems satisfied by whatever he finds there, because he nods once and then walks over to press the button for the elevator. 

“My name’s Tim Drake. I want to talk to you about your dad,” he says, as though that sentence isn’t incredibly concerning. 

Dick figures he’ll hear the kid out and then call his parents. Tim Drake is Janet and Jack Drake’s son, he recalls, one of the Manor’s closest neighbors. He’s sure he’s seen the kid around a time or two. 

Tim steps into the elevator when it comes and gestures impatiently for Dick to follow. He shoots a quick text to Barbara as he goes. 

**[To: Babs]**

_ Jack and Janet Drake’s kid just showed up here asking to talk about Bruce. Kinda worried? No idea what this is about. Standby. _

**[From: Babs]**

_ Uh. Wow. Okay. Let me know what happens. _

Dick locks his phone and slips it into his pocket after he reads Babs’ reply, pressing the button for the penthouse. 

“So is Jason home too? I know he lives here with you. I wanted to talk to him too.”

Is this kid trying to do a project on his family for school or something? He doesn’t seem worried or nervous, so that at least settles some of Dick’s nerves about what Tim might want to talk about. But he’s wracking his brain for what this could possibly be about and he’s coming up empty. 

“Yeah, Jay’s home,” Dick responds absently as they reach the top floor and he unlocks the door. “Jason! Come here!” he calls, when they step inside. 

Jason pokes his head around the corner and his face twists with confusion. 

“Who the fu-“ Jason cuts himself off at the look Dick gives him and amends what he was about to say. “Who’s this?” 

Dick opens his mouth to answer, but Tim beats him to it. “My name’s Tim Drake. I came to talk to you about your father, Bruce Wayne.”

Jason’s nose wrinkles in disgust, but Tim breezes right by the reaction, stepping over to the living area of the penthouse and opening his file. He spreads papers and pictures from security cameras all over the table. They’re all about Batman. There are articles about how in the past couple years, the Gotham Bat has gotten more violent and unforgiving with criminals, images of a black cape that the security cameras just barely caught, papers labelled with paragraphs of writing that Dick’s pretty sure is Tim’s own work and images that look like they were taken by Tim himself. Has this kid been following Batman around the streets of Gotham at night? 

This is not at all what Dick had been expecting. 

“What is all this, kiddo?” Dick asks, crouching next to the table to take a look at all the papers Tim’s just spread out for them. 

“Evidence,” Tim says, matter of factly. When Jason snorts and flicks a picture to the side to look at a paper labelled  _ Batman _ in large text at the top, Tim turns his nose up. “I have strong reason to believe that your father, Bruce Wayne, is the Batman.” 

Dick cocks an eyebrow in confusion and Jason starts outright cackling.

“I don’t see what’s so funny about this.” 

“Tim,” Dick starts gently, glancing down at the picture of the Bat’s back that had been caught on a security feed. “Bruce isn’t exactly the responsible type.”

Tim shakes his head, holding out a paper that lists times when Batman has disappeared in relation to times when Bruce has gone on extended business trips or vacations, big events where Batman has shown up right after Bruce vanishes. Dick has to admit Bruce has some pretty shitty timing, but still. 

“This happens too much for it to be a coincidence!” Tim insists. “At the last gala that I attended with my parents, Bruce Wayne disappeared minutes before Batman showed up to deal with the Riddler, so I started looking into it and it’s a pattern that keeps repeating itself. There’s no way there’s not some kind of connection!”

Jason coughs and excuses himself to get a glass of water. Dick sighs. “Correlation is not causation. Tim, I know you’ve put a lot of work into this research. And it’s really impressive. I know some cops who aren’t this thorough in their research. But Bruce Wayne isn’t Batman, kiddo. I’ve been living on my own and taking care of Jason for a long time now. Bruce couldn’t even handle two kids he asked for, let alone shoulder the responsibility of a whole city. You seem like a smart kid. Think about it. There’s no way Bruce Wayne is the Batman.”

Tim stands up and drops the file, still half stuffed full of papers, onto the table with a loud smack. “You’re wrong! He is! I’m sure of it!” 

“I’m sorry, Tim. And I think that this is something you should stop pushing. This kind of thing is nothing for a kid to be worried about. Batman’s identity is a secret for a reason. What he does is dangerous and there are a lot of dangerous people after him. You don’t want to get caught up in all of that. I think your dedication is admirable, but I also think you should drop this.” He lets out a long breath and watches as Tim slumps back into his seat and glares at the floor. “Do your parents know where you are?”

Tim shrugs. “Probably didn’t notice I left,” he says dismissively. 

That’s concerning, but not the biggest of Dick’s immediate issues. The first priority is letting the Drakes know that their son is not missing, and is in good hands. 

“Alright, well why don’t we give them a call and then I’ll drive you back out to your house, okay? It’s late, they’ll be wanting you home.” 

Tim huffs and recites his parents’ phone number to Dick, crossing his arms over his chest. 

No one picks up at the Drake household, and when Dick drives Tim out there, it’s not his parents who answer, but rather the maid, a kind old woman with lines in her face from smiling. She’s not smiling when Dick, still dressed in his uniform, nudges Tim through the front door. The woman looks worried, eyeing Dick’s badge cautiously. 

“Don’t worry, ma’am, I’m not here on any official business. Tim’s not in trouble. Just dropping him off. Keep an eye on him. He’s smart for his age,” he says, with a charming smile. The woman relaxes a little then and smiles softly and thanks Dick for bringing Tim home safe. 

Dick leaves and thinks the whole incident was strange, but that he’ll put it out of his mind quickly. 

He texts Barbara as soon as he parks the car and heads back into the apartment building.

**[To:Babs]**

_ Crisis averted. The kid saw Bruce leave a gala before Batman showed up once and got it into his head that B and Batman are the same person lol _

Half an hour later, he gets a response.

**[From: Babs]**

_ He thought what? That’s insane. _

**[To: Babs]**

_ Yeah, wild. Kid’s only 12 though. He just really thought he was right. Had this huge file full of research and everything. If I didn’t know how much of a flake Bruce is, I might’ve believed him that file was so in depth. _

Dick doesn’t get a response after that.

He decides to put the whole incident out of his mind for good. 

~*~

And then Tim’s parents are murdered. 

The kidnapping and murder of Jack and Janet Drake is all over the news for weeks, followed by the news that Bruce Wayne, ever the kind man, had decided to take in Tim Drake rather than have him go into the foster system, seeing as he’d been a good friend of the Drakes. Dick knows that’s a load of bullshit, but Tim looks a little less dull-eyed in the news clips where he’s with Bruce than the ones where he’s alone so Dick won’t say anything about that. 

When the Drake case hits the GCPD, Dick makes sure he’s involved. It won’t bring Tim’s parents back, but Dick wants to make sure that this one doesn’t get lost in the corrupt system that is the Gotham Police Department. He’ll find the person responsible for taking this boy’s parents from him. 

He tells Tim as much when he takes Jason to visit the Manor a week after Tim starts staying there, and Tim responds by throwing his arms around Dick’s middle. Dick hugs him back and gives him a sad smile. Tim is a good kid. He shouldn’t be a part of this broken family of orphans, but he is and nothing that they do can ever change that. 

Dick will just have to settle for getting justice. 

Batman, Batgirl and the Bat’s new sidekick, a young boy in black and red who calls himself Redbird, find the Drakes’ killer before Dick can even get so much as a shaky lead. 

Obeah Man has been dead for a while, burned in a fire, when they finally figure out it was him. At least it’s some kind of closure. 

Dick still runs down a couple of leads after Batman and Redbird provide them with the intel. He wants to be sure the real killer hasn’t gotten away. Tim deserves better than that. 

Barbara tells him that her father notices his dedication. 

Dick doesn’t think anything of it, says he’s just doing his job. But Dick Grayson has caught Jim Gordon’s attention. There’s no going back from that. 

~*~

Tim doesn’t let Bruce adopt him until he’s fifteen, but the day the papers go through, Tim calls, more excited than Dick’s heard him sound in a long time. 

“We’re officially brothers now! You, me and Jason!” Tim says, and Dick can hear the smile on his face and can’t bring himself to say that technically, he isn’t their brother at all, Bruce never adopted him, only Jason. He lets Tim have this. He deserves it. 


	4. Damian

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a new wayne and a terrifying experience.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a long chapter! this chapter introduces damian, but also, for the most part, deals with something else a lot heavier. nothing graphic, but maybe check out the end notes just to be safe if you might be affected by something like that.

Things settle for a while after Tim’s adoption, and Dick and Jason are just starting to feel more comfortable visiting the Manor more often, and Tim is finding a place with his brothers, and Bruce even seems like he’s around a little more. Things are good.

Until one Saturday, Dick and Jason come to the Manor in the morning to spend the day with Tim and find Tim sitting at the kitchen island staring out the window. He’s massaging his temples, elbows resting on the counter on either side of a bowl of cereal that’s long since gone soggy. Dick is immediately concerned.

“He was here when I woke up,” Tim mutters distractedly. 

“What?” Dick asks, confused. 

“Apparently his name’s Damian. He’s ten. And he’s Bruce’s son. His mother dropped him off early this morning. I had no…  _ Bruce _ had no idea.” 

Jason stares at Tim, glances at Dick, who’s also staring at Tim, then looks back to their younger brother and says, rather loudly, “What the fuck?”

“Language,” Dick chides, at the same time that Tim mutters, “Yeah, pretty much.”

Tim shakes his head like that’ll clear it, and shoves the bowl of soggy cereal away from him. “Bruce has a kid. There is a kid in this house that’s actually Bruce’s.”

Dick’s eyebrows raise a little. Tim isn’t usually one to repeat himself. 

“Well. Not how I expected to spend the day. But hey. More the merrier. Guess we’ve got a new brother,” Dick says with a laugh that’s just this side of hysterical.

A voice somewhere in the back of his mind reminds him that this is the third time that someone who isn’t Bruce has told him that Bruce has acquired another son. This has to be some kind of record. 

“Did Bruce say anything about why his mother waited ten years to tell Bruce that he exists?”

Tim hesitates, reaches out and stirs the spoon around in his bowl of soggy cereal for a moment. He’s stalling, Dick knows. But why?

After a long silence, only filled with the sound of Tim’s spoon clacking around in his bowl, Tim finally speaks reluctantly. “I think Damian’s mother is abusive. That’s why Bruce is taking him.”

It sounds like it pains Tim to say that, and Dick is at his side immediately. He sees Jason’s hands clench into fists at his sides. Dick feels his heart break. He’s dealt with cases like this at work before. Parents who should never have been parents and scared children left in their wake. 

“Why don’t you guys hang out down here, and I’ll go up and talk to Bruce and see if Damian’s up for grabbing an early lunch with us. Maybe that quiet little diner by the penthouse. Hang tight,” Dick says with a smile and goes bounding up the stairs for Bruce’s office. 

He can hear vague protests from Tim, but they’re too soft to really hear as Dick walks away. 

He knocks on Bruce’s office door and the muffled voices on the other side quiet instantly. 

“Come in,” Bruce calls gruffly. 

When Dick nudges the door open with a smile on his face to find Bruce sitting in his desk chair pinching the bridge of his nose, and a child with Bruce’s eyes and cheekbones and deep tan skin seated across from him. 

Damian, Dick assumes. 

He’s sitting up straight in the chair, glaring at Dick with his arms crossed over his chest and his upper lip curled into a sneer. 

“Grayson, correct?” he says, giving Dick a once over. “You are the eldest of my false brothers?”

“Damian!” Bruce snaps, eyes shut as he starts rubbing at his temples like he’s trying to stave off a headache. 

Dick just raises an eyebrow in confusion before continuing. “Hey, B. Damian, nice to meet you, kiddo. Jay and I were gonna grab Tim and go get some lunch. We wanted to see if you wanted to come with us.”

“Tt,” Damian scoffs, rolling his eyes. “Spending time with you in such a manner is beneath me.”

“Damian,” Bruce scolds again, but this time he sounds a little more exasperated. 

“Father, you cannot expect me to waste my time with these impostors when I have far more important matters to attend to.”

“Damian,” Bruce grumbles, resigned. 

Dick watches the exchange like a tennis match before hooking a thumb over his shoulder. “Okay. Well then, nice to see you again, Bruce. Jason and I have Tim. We’ll be back eventually. Nice to meet you Dami,” he says, and then he ducks out of the room. 

He’s followed by a noise of outrage from Damian. 

Dick stops when he gets to the top of the stairs to head back to the kitchen and takes a moment to try to process what exactly just happened. Damian speaks like a well cultured adult, not like a child. He holds himself like an adult too. Not like a child from an abusive home. Dick knows better than to assume based on appearances, but Damian acts like he expects a room to stop and listen whenever he speaks, like he is used to commanding some kind of power which is  _ ridiculous _ . He’s  _ ten _ . 

Everything about that was confusing. 

But, for all Bruce’s flaws as a father, Dick knows that Damian will be safe with him. He will be provided for. That’s enough. Dick will spend some time getting to know him once he warms up to the new situation he’s in and he’ll figure out how to be the best brother he can be for him. 

He knows it’ll be fine. 

So he goes and gathers his other brothers and assures them both that Damian is going to be fine, but that he won’t be joining them.

He puts the strangeness out of his mind to think about later.

~*~

Later comes along, and Dick doesn’t have the chance to spare his newest brother’s oddities a second thought. 

There’s an Arkham breakout that puts the Joker back on the streets to deal with that takes up all of Dick’s time. He’s stressed and tired and about to snap when he gets a call that changes everything. Puts Damian’s quirks out of his mind for good. 

It’s two in the morning almost two weeks after the Joker broke out of Arkham when Dick’s cell phone starts ringing. 

“This is Officer Grayson, how can I help you?” he half mumbles into the receiver, barely even registering that it’s not his work phone. 

“Officer Grayson, this is Emma Brooks, I’m a nurse at Gotham General. I’m sorry to have to make this call,” the woman on the other end of the line says and Dick’s heart freezes. His eyes go wide and he very nearly drops his phone as his breath hitches in his chest. 

His only thought is,  _ Oh god, Jason. _

Amy Rohrback, his partner and the officer he shares his desk space with, looks to him in concern. “Grayson, what is it?”

“Hospital,” he murmurs, voice sounding far away. Amy’s face crumples in pity.

Emma Brooks, the nurse on the line, continues as though Dick’s world hasn’t come crashing to a halt. “It seems as though you’re listed as a secondary emergency contact for a Barbara Gordon? She was brought in with her father a few minutes ago,” Emma says, and Dick actually does drop his phone then. 

“Grayson, what happened?” Amy says, picking up his phone. When Dick doesn’t move immediately, Amy picks up the phone for him, listening and nodding and responding softly. She thanks the nurse and hangs up. “Okay. Get up Grayson. Where are your keys? You need to go to the hospital,” Amy says in a voice that says ‘don’t argue’. 

Dick nods and pats down his jacket for the keys to his car, not the cruiser, holds them up for Amy to see. 

“Good. Okay. They said Gordon’s in rough shape but he’s stable, but they’re taking Barbara into surgery. I’ll take care of things here. You go. I know that girl’s like family to you,” Amy commands. 

Dick musters up the best smile he can and thanks her quietly. At least, he thinks. His ears are ringing. It feels like he’s lost his voice, like everything’s off kilter and if he does anything besides walk to his car, he’ll lose his balance and the world will collapse around him. 

He’s pretty sure he breaks almost every traffic law in existence in his rush to get to Gotham General. 

He barely checks to make sure his car door closes behind him before he’s running for the emergency room entrance, skidding to a stop in front of the desk. 

He knows he must look a mess, his jacket askew, shirts almost untucked, he’s still got his belt on, though he meant to leave that at the precinct when he left. 

The older woman at the desk takes one look at him and her face twists into something like pity. “Take a breath son. Who are you here for?” 

“I’m Officer Dick Grayson. I talked to an Emma Brooks on the phone? I’m here for Barbara and Jim Gordon.” The woman’s face falls and so does Dick’s heart. “What… My partner picked up the phone after a second, she didn’t say what... what happened to them? What happened?” 

They say they need to take him out of the public waiting area to explain.

He’s not expecting Batman and Blackbird to be standing in the hospital break room waiting for him. 

“Sit, Officer,” Batman commands, and Dick does. 

Dick opens his mouth to ask them to explain, to please tell him what had happened to the Gordons, to his  _ family _ , but Blackbird cuts him off. 

“Do not ask questions.” Funny, Dick thinks absently. The kid has a sneer just like Damian’s. 

Batman speaks. “We were tracking someone we suspected of working with the Joker to find their base of operations when he stumbled upon Commissioner Gordon tied up in the warehouse we had followed that thug back to,” Batman says, in a level, clinical voice, as though this isn’t horribly concerning. “When we arrived, Gordon was shouting for his daughter so I dispatched Redbird to the Gordons’ apartment to investigate. Apparently the Joker had stayed behind there. Redbird was unable to apprehend the Joker, but we were able to take many of those working for him into custody.” 

“That’s great. But what happened to Babs,” Dick demands.

“Gordon suffered from severe bruising and cracking of four of his ribs, but he will heal fine in time. Barbara, unfortunately, suffered a gunshot wound to the abdomen. She is in surgery, but if Redbird’s initial assessment was correct, the bullet did damage to her spine. It is unlikely that Miss Gordon will ever be able to walk again, and I am unsure of the effect that the time the Joker spent with her will have.”

The sound that Dick lets out is somewhere between and anguished cry and a choked sob as he sinks into a chair, covering his mouth with a hand. 

Oh god, Babs wasn’t going to be able to walk again and on top of that, Batman thinks she’ll be traumatized cause some psychopath dressed like a clown decided this was something fun for him to do? Not to mention what had happened to Commissioner Gordon. What was he going to do? How were you even supposed to react to news like this? Was he supposed to just sit there and wait for more news now? How could he just sit there and wait?

While Dick’s thoughts are going a mile a minute through his head, working him into a full on panic, Batman does the last thing Dick thought the Gotham Bat would ever do. 

Batman steps closer and wraps an arm around Dick’s shoulders and just sits there for a moment. 

“This is terrifying, I know. But your friend will live. It will be difficult, but she will have you, and I am sure you have people you can lean on as well. Keep that in mind. Your care for your friend is greater than the fear the Joker inspires in either of you. He is no longer in control. Understand?” 

Dick, feeling childish and embarrassed, looks up at Batman, the Dark Knight, to find a soft expression on what’s visible of his face. It feels… familiar almost. Comforting. It feels how Dick felt when he’d first met Bruce, and Bruce had told him everything would be alright, how he felt when he was young and had a nightmare and Alfred would sit with him until he calmed down. It’s enough that Dick can take a deep breath and stop freaking out. 

He lets out a slow breath and gives Batman a shaky smile. “Thank you, sir. I can’t thank you enough for finding them. Barbara… she’s like my family. Just thank you. If there’s ever any way I can repay the favor, just call the GCPD and ask--” 

“We know who you are, Richard Grayson,” Blackbird says quietly. “Do not feel you must thank us.”

Wow, the kid really does remind him of Damian. 

Funny coincidence. 

“I should. You saved them. So thank you. I’m going to go see if Commissioner Gordon is awake. He’ll want to know what’s going on. I’ll probably see you around on the job.” 

Batman helps Dick to his feet, and Dick gives them both a shaky smile before he steps outside to talk to the waiting nurse. 

She smiles softly at him and says she’ll take him to see Gordon. 

When Dick glances back to thank Batman and Blackbird again, they’re gone. There’s a window open just a crack, but there’s no other sign that the vigilantes were ever there.

Dick takes a deep breath and the nurse leads him from the break room to Commissioner Gordon’s room. 

Gordon’s bed is inclined so he’s almost sitting, likely to take some of the pressure off of his injured ribs. He startles a bit when Dick knocks on his door and then winces when that aggravates his injuries. 

“Grayson? What are you doing here, son?”

Dick works his jaw for a moment, trying not to cry. His voice is barely above a whisper when he speaks. “I’m. I. Babs has me down as her second emergency contact. Since you were here too, they called me. I’m sorry I took so long, Batman and Blackbird wanted to… debrief me. I think.”

Gordon’s eyes widen a little bit at that. “They stayed to debrief you? Did they tell you what happened to Barbara? What happened to my daughter? Is she okay? Tell me everything they told you.” It’s nothing short of an order.

Dick’s voice catches when he tries to speak and he has to take a moment to collect himself. “Batman said that Redbird made an initial assessment when he found Babs. She’s gonna. She should be okay but they said. I mean. I didn’t hear anything from the doctors. Or the nurses. So. I don’t. Well.” Dick stumbles over his words, looking for some way to gently break the news to Gordon that his daughter is likely never going to walk again. 

“Spit it out, Dick,” Gordon says after a second. 

“She’s never going be able to use her legs again. Redbird thinks the damage to her spine is permanent. And then the Joker. I don’t. They didn’t know what happened. I. Commissioner, I’m so sorry.” Dick chokes out the last few words and scrubs a hand over his face. This isn’t something he wants to be telling his best friend’s father. This isn’t something he’d want to tell a complete stranger. 

Gordon just shakes his head. “Thank you for telling me, son,” he says, voice suddenly raspy. “If you wouldn’t mind, I’d like a minute to think.” 

Dick just nods. He gets it. He’s Babs’ emergency contact, not Gordon’s. Babs had decided she wanted him around in an emergency. Gordon hadn’t asked for that. Jim Gordon doesn’t need one of his officers to see him as he deals with the news Dick’s just broken to him. Dick can respect that, as much as he wants the comfort of another person who understands why he feels like his world is crashing down around him. 

Barbara is the closest thing he has to a sister. And she’s hurt and there’s nothing that he can do about it. 

It makes Dick feel like he wants to crawl out of his skin, this feeling of uselessness. 

“If there’s anything at all I can do for you or Barbara, please, let me know. Anything at all,” Dick offers and then he slips from the room. The sound of the door closing behind him is like a gunshot. 

He goes to the waiting room and takes a seat in a corner away from where most people are near the doors leading deeper into the hospital. He leans against the wall and sticks his feet in the chair next to him and wraps his arms around himself. 

And he waits. 

And he waits. 

And he falls asleep. 

He wakes up to someone tapping at his shoulder. 

Dick jerks upright and looks around wildly for a second before his eyes settle on the person in front of him, who is holding out a large cup of coffee to him. 

“Jason? What time is it?” 

“Six-thirty-ish. Rohrback called me before she went home for the day. Said I oughta know where you were. Thanks for letting me know what’s going on, by the way,” Jason says sarcastically, handing Dick the coffee and shoving his feet out of the way so he can take the seat next to Dick. 

Dick takes a sip of coffee and burns his mouth and scrunches his face up. “Don’t you have an eight A.M. today? You should be getting ready for classes.”

Jason smacks him in the back of the head. “The woman who’s good as my older sister is in the hospital and you want me to go to class? Gotham U isn’t gonna call apart if I skip a day of classes to be with my family. I’ll email my professors later or somethin’. Anyway. News?”

“Nothing since about an hour after I got here? Talked to Gordon. He’s doing pretty well, all things considered. Babs… I haven’t heard anything since Batman told me what happened.”

Jason turns to him abruptly, face twisted in shock, but he’s cut off by the nurse who had welcomed Dick to the ER coming over to them. 

“Officer Grayson? Miss Gordon is out of surgery. It seems like she’s just waking up now if you’d like to see her.”

Dick suddenly feels like he can breathe again, and he lets out a little laugh that’s just this side of hysterical. Babs is out of surgery and waking up which means she’s okay! She made it through surgery and there’s a long road ahead but for now she’s okay, and she’s awake and Dick can talk to her and she’s  _ okay. _

The nurse leads him and Jason up to Barbara’s room, and the second Dick sees her, he feels like his knees might give out. 

She looks at him and a smile tugs at her lips for a moment before it’s taken over by confusion. 

“Dick? Jay?” she rasps. “What are you doing here?”

Dick steps into the room and pulls up a chair, sits and takes Babs’ hand. “Remember you put me down as a secondary emergency contact a few months ago? Looks like it was for the best. I talked to your dad a few hours ago. He’s okay,” Dick says hurriedly, noting Barbara’s look of concern at the fact that they’d had to call Dick. “A little banged up, but he’s okay. Just worried about you.”

Barbara lets out a sigh of relief and there’s a couple moments where everything’s fine. Dick and Jason are there and Barbara is alive and it’s fine. 

And then the doctor comes in. 

She’s a kind looking woman in a white coat and scrubs and she smiles as though this isn’t the worst thing they’ve had to go through in a long time. 

“Well, I’m happy to say that your surgery went well, Miss Gordon,” the doctor says, hooking a chart on the end of the bed and pushing the blankets aside. She takes something and drags it over the bottom of one of Barbara’s feet and then over the other. “Barbara, I need you to tell me if you can feel this.”

Babs looks confused. “Feel what?”

The doctor repeats her actions and when she doesn’t get a response again she purses her lips. 

Oh god. Redbird was right. 

“Miss Gordon, I’m very sorry, but unfortunately there was nothing was could do. One bullet made a clean wound, but the second wound up lodged in your spine. We couldn’t remove it without risking further damage. It seems as though this had an effect we were hoping against. I’m afraid it looks like you’re going to lose the use of both of your legs.” 

Babs clutches tighter at Dick’s hand, her free hand moving to cover her mouth as she lets out a soft sob. 

She’s trembling. 

Dick can’t make himself speak. 

“Is this permanent, doc?” Jason asks finally. “Or is there something we can do to help Babs walk again?”

The doctor shakes her head. “Physical therapy is always an option, but the positioning of the bullet means that this is likely permanent. The path the bullet took through your body also may present issues for you in the future if you were planning on having children, Miss Gordon, but that issue can be worked around. It’s not an end to the option of children.”

Jason lets the silence sit for a moment, and cuts the doctor off when she opens her mouth to say more. “I think we’d like to be alone to process all of this, doc. Thanks.”

Jason glares and the doctor leaves. 

“Oh god,” Barbara whispers into her hand. “I’m never going to walk again.”

Jason stands like a guard by the door, and Dick just holds her hand tighter and lets her cry. 

There’s nothing more anyone can really do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter deals with dick finding out that barbara and jim gordon have been attacked by the joker. proceed with caution, please. nothing is described in detail, but the fact the barbara will be affected because of this trauma is mentioned, so just be careful!


	5. Clark

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the joker is caught, jason gets sick and dick FINALLY gets some things off his chest thanks to a certain reporter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello, happy new year, i've returned to throw this at you from the mouth of my cave before retreating back into the darkness. enjoy, kids.

Amy Rohrbach drags the Joker into the GCPD to await transport to Arkham four days after Jim Gordon is discharged from the hospital. The clown is beaten bloody, red dripping down his forehead, in his teeth as that damned smile sets in place when he sees Dick. Joker jerks the wrong way once, barely even a twitch, and Amy decks him in the face so hard that he goes sprawling across the floor. No one says anything. Later, Dick tells Babs what Amy did in a hushed voice, a small, proud smile tugging at his lips. He really loves his partner. 

Babs says she wants to meet Amy just to hug her for that. 

Dick just smiles softly and promises Babs that she and Amy will meet one day. Then an alarm on his phone goes off and he has to run again. It seems like that’s all he’s been doing lately. Running from the penthouse to work, to the hospital to see Barbara, back to the penthouse, back to work. He can probably count on his hands how many hours of sleep he’s gotten total in the past three days. The week and a half before that weren’t much better.

He goes back to the penthouse just long enough to change into his uniform and attach a note to a six pack he got to congratulate Jason on finishing his finals, before he’s racing back to the precinct for another shift. They’ve finally gotten all the Arkham inmates taken care of, so he’s got a mountain of paperwork waiting for him. He wants to shake himself when he realizes he’s actually kind of excited for it because, though tedious, it’s not as emotionally or physically exhausting as anything else he’s been doing recently. It’ll be a nice break.

Or so he thinks. 

He’s three hours into his shift when Jason calls him and that’s concerning to say the least. It has Dick’s heart beating faster as he picks up. Jason never calls. Especially not when Dick’s at work. He always sends a short text whenever he needs something and Dick’s not around. 

The way Jason answers the phone doesn’t help settle Dick’s nerves. 

“Jay? Everything okay, bud?” Dick asks by way of greeting. 

Jason doesn’t really answer so much as he does groan into the receiver for a solid ten seconds. 

“Jay?” Dick’s already got his keys in hand, writing out a note to Rohrbach, when Jason finally says words. 

“Dick! Dickster. Dickhead. Hah. Nee’you ta get me from studen’ health, please,” Jason slurs, drawing out the word ‘please’. Dick freezes. Student health? Why was he there? 

His final should be over by now. What was he still doing on campus? 

“Hello, Richard Grayson?” At his grunt of acknowledgement, the woman on the other end of the line continues. “Hi, I have your brother here at Gotham University Student Health. He popped in after the exam he just got out of and fell asleep waiting. It seems he’s running a fairly high fever. He says he doesn’t want to go to the hospital, and I see no reason to make him but he is going to need someone to come pick him up, since he lives off campus. He said you’d be the best candidate. Are you going to be able to come get him?” 

“Yeah, yes, of course. I’ll be there as soon as I can. Thank you.” Dick hangs up and looks at the stack of paperwork he has yet to finish sadly and tucks it into his briefcase with a sigh. “Amy, can you… I can’t believe I didn’t notice. I. Jay’s really sick, I’ve gotta go get him from the student health center, can you-” 

Dick doesn’t even get to finish before Amy’s cutting him off, finishing his sentence. “Deal with the boss man for you? You got it partner. Go get your brother. Tell the kid I said hi.” She gets up and is striding across the room before Dick can even blink. He gathers his things and heads out with a smile on his face. He thinks it’s the first time in a while that his smile hasn’t been tinged by sadness. 

The smile doesn’t last long. Jason’s still running a fever when they get back to the penthouse. And the next morning. And that afternoon. It finally breaks that evening, but Dick still has to call out of work for that day and the next two just to make sure that whatever Jason caught doesn’t come back to knock him on his ass again. 

He spends three days filling out paperwork and near jumping out of his skin every time Jason so much as twitches. He’s at his wits end by the time Jason’s okay enough to function on his own. 

He brushes off Jason’s concern about it though and gathers the work he’s done over the past few days and drops it by the precinct on his way to the hospital.

He gets there just as the doctor’s entering Barbara’s room, smiles at Jim on Babs’ other side and takes a seat as the doctor addresses them all. Babs squeezes his hand so tightly he thinks she might crush his bones as the doctor talks, going through pain medications and instructions and a doctor she has to continue to visit. 

It’s like all three of them collectively release a sigh of relief when they finally hear the words, “You’re good to go.” 

Dick has never been happier to hear a doctor speak in his life. 

“Let’s blow this pop stand,” Dick mutters through a choked laugh as he presses a kiss to Barbara’s hair, his hand still tangled with hers. He doesn’t know which of them needs it more at this point. 

They get discharge papers squared away and Babs insists on wheeling herself down the halls and out of the hospital, adamant that she does not need people doing things for her. It’d be so painfully familiar if not for Babs’ chair that it makes Dick’s chest hurt to watch. 

She lets him help her into the car, although not without playful protest, but she swats his hands away when he tries to do anything more than assist her in making her way into the passenger seat. That’s his Babs. Stubborn as all hell. It makes something twist inside him. Seeing Babs like this, it’s hard, it hurts and he feels like he should’ve done more. 

But he can’t imagine how Jim must be feeling, so he helps load the chair into the trunk and he smiles and bids them goodbye. 

He can’t talk to Babs. Can’t go back to the penthouse, not with Jason still getting better. Can’t bother Tim with something this heavy, with this weight on his chest. 

He’s at the Manor gates before he even really recognizes where he’s driving himself. 

The door doesn’t open immediately which tells him that Alf’s busy, which is okay, Dick guesses. He can talk to Bruce. That’s fine. He just needs to talk to someone or he’s going to explode. It’s just been too much. He’s fighting off tears as he knocks, looking up at the sky to try to keep it together. 

The door swings open and all Dick registers is slicked back black hair and a button down shirt before he’s throwing himself at Bruce, clinging like his life depends on it. It’s not something they really do, but Dick just needs someone right now. 

It’s not really something they do, but he was expecting more of a reaction from Bruce. He thought Bruce would at least hug him back or something. Anything. After a beat of no reaction from Bruce, Dick takes a deep breath and steels himself to face whatever reaction he’s elicited from Bruce when he realizes, this is not at all what Bruce smells like. He opens his eyes and realizes the button up is a flannel and absolutely not something Bruce would wear. 

And it hits him very suddenly that the man he’s hugging is not Bruce Wayne. 

“Oh my god,” Dick mutters, cheeks flushing in embarrassment. He releases the man and rights himself, scrubbing tears from his eyes and plastering a fake grin on his face. “I’m so sorry, sir, I wasn’t paying attention, I thought you were Bruce.” And then it hits him that this man is a stranger in the home where his two little brothers live. “Wait. Who are you? What are you doing here?” 

The man who is definitely not Bruce straightens his glasses and shuts the door behind Dick, giving him a lopsided smile. 

“Don’t worry, Bruce invited me in. I’m Clark Kent,” the man, Clark, answers, holding his hands out in a placating gesture. He’s a broad, strong looking man but the way he hunches in on himself diminishes any intimidating effect that would normally have. “I’m Bruce’s friend. Just visiting from out of town. He and Alfred stepped out. I offered to stay so the boys wouldn’t be home alone.”

Dick narrows his eyes and whips out his phone to text Tim. 

**[To: Timmy]**

_ Clark Kent??? _

**[From: Timmy]**

_ Nice guy. Visiting B. Everything okay? _

Dick sends back a thumbs up and tucks his phone away, glancing back up at the man. The look of sheer concern in his eyes has Dick tearing up again. 

“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Mr. Kent. I’m so sorry for…” Dick gestures vaguely between the two of them, “all of what just happened. I don’t want to bother you anymore. I’ll just give Bruce a call later. Uh. Thanks. I guess? I’m sorry. Bad day,” Dick mutters as he finally turns around to grab the door handle he’s reached for and failed to grasp three times already. 

“You’re Richard. Dick, right? Bruce’s oldest?” Clark asks, and Dick stalls in his tracks. 

He turns back around and cocks an eyebrow. “Yeah, why?” he croaks out.

Clark adjusts his glasses again, scratches the back of his neck. “Well, Bruce’s told me a lot about you. Told me you were having a rough couple of weeks, and you seem pretty upset. I know you just met me, but if you need to talk, I’m a very good listener. Plus, I don’t think you should be driving if you’re this upset.”

Dick wants to argue that, get indignant about this stranger telling him he’s too upset to drive. He even opens his mouth to say something about it, but all that comes out is a  choked sob. He can’t help help it. He knew this was going to happen. He knew he was hitting his breaking point and he thought if he couldn’t even have Bruce around to talk to, he could at least have the peace and quiet of one of the Manor’s less used rooms to have an emotional breakdown in.

But no.

He’s starting to lose it in front of a complete  _ stranger _ just because the man’s being nice to him. Dick really just wants to thank him and shake it off and cry in his car for a bit before pasting on a mask and heading back to the penthouse to check on Jason. 

What he gets instead is Damian coming to the top of the staircase and glaring down at them. 

“Grayson. What is the meaning of this? Are you unwell?” 

He’s got that sneer on that reminds Dick of the expression Blackbird’s always wearing in the field and it’s directed at Dick and that’s what finally breaks him. 

He chokes out a pathetic sounding, “I’m fine,” and then he claps a hand over his mouth and wraps an arm around his middle and tries to hide that fact that he’s crying from his little brother and this stranger in his home. He scrambles for the doorknob again, not wanting Damian to see him like this, he needs to get away, has to leave, has to get out of here….

He’s stopped by a strong arm around his shoulders, guiding him away from the door, and a soothing voice calling out behind them, telling Damian to return to his room. Clark guides Dick from the entryway to the sitting room he recognizes as Bruce’s favorite with the practiced ease of someone who spends a lot of time comforting people and also knows his way around the Manor. 

Strange. Dick had no idea Clark had ever even been to the Manor before. 

The thought leaves his mind almost immediately after it comes to him, too preoccupied with the tangled, knotted mess of emotions he’s trying to process. 

He slumps into a chair in the sitting room and scrubs furiously at his face, trying to get rid of the tears, but they keep falling and it’s really a fruitless endeavor.

“I’m sorry, this is ridiculous, I’m really fine, I think I’m just a little overtired, it’s nothing,” Dick rambles, trying to convince himself as much as he is trying to convince Clark. 

He’s not buying it. Clark isn’t either. 

“Dick, are you okay?” Clark asks, and the genuine concern in his voice rips another sob from Dick’s chest, raw and painful. 

“I’m-” he cuts off. He was about to say fine, find a way to get out of all this. He could be fine if he tried hard enough, right? But he’s not. He’s really, really not fine, and he really can’t keep this in anymore and he can’t go to Barbara or dump this on his brothers and Clark is just sitting there, asking him to talk and Dick  _ breaks _ . “I’m not. I’m not okay. I’m not fine. I’ve been ‘fine’ because that’s what everyone needed me to be but I’m not and I can usually talk to Babs but she just got  _ shot _ and what kind of person would I be if I dumped my problems on her while she’s trying to come to terms with not being able to walk anymore?! And I can’t just go and throw all this at one of my little brothers! They shouldn’t be dealing with my issues! I thought I could at least get Bruce to tell me to calm down and that everything’ll be fine, but he’s not even here and here I am, piling all my stupid, stupid shit on a complete stranger that I just met! God, what is wrong with me?!” 

Dick moves like he’s going to stand but Clark sits down across from him then. The look he gives Dick pins him to his seat. He just barely meets Clark’s gaze through tear filled eyes and forces out a soft, “I’m sorry. I… I shouldn’t have-”

Clark cuts him off quietly. “I asked, Dick. It’s okay. There’s nothing wrong with you, it just sounds like you’ve been under some stress, lately. Did you say your friend was shot?”

“Yes,” Dick whispers, nodding miserably. “Babs. Uh, Barbara. My best friend. She’s like a sister to me and Jason. And she… Babs is the police commissioner’s daughter so when the Joker busted out with the other Arkham inmates a few weeks ago, he went after them and he shot her and they took her dad and beat him pretty bad, but then the Joker stayed with Babs while the other guys took Jim and I still don’t know what  _ happened _ cause she doesn’t want to talk about it and obviously I understand that but I feel so goddamn useless! My best friend has a bullet lodged in her spine and she’ll never walk again and I can’t do a single thing to even help her feel better. I just have to sit by and watch her suffer! I hate it! And then I’ve been pulling doubles for the past three weeks to try to make up for the fact that we’re short handed and there’s Arkham inmates on the loose and then Jason got so sick a few days ago I had to leave work to get him from his school’s health clinic cause he passed out there after a final and I’ve spent the last three days freaking out about his temperature spiking again and it’s just. Sorry. For dumping all that on you,” he finishes softly, sighing and scrubbing the last few tears from his cheeks. 

Clark just blinks for a moment and Dick almost gets up and leaves. Of course the man has no idea how to respond. Dick just threw more at him than he’d normally tell anyone other than  _ maybe  _ Barbara. 

“Dick, how much did you sleep last night?” Clark says, before Dick can run away with that train of thought. 

As Dick ticks off hours on his fingers, he notices Clark watching his hands with a furrowed brow. He realizes that his hands are shaking a little and then remembers he hasn’t eaten in… a while. Damn. He’d meant to do that. 

“I dunno,” he finally says, clasping his hands together to keep them steady. He plasters a smile on his face. He can tell it looks forced, but that doesn’t stop him from trying. It makes him feel a little better at least. “I got a few hours. Had to check on Jay a bunch to make sure his fever didn’t come back again. Plus the paperwork on the Arkham escapees I booked has been keeping me up while I’ve been home with him. Wanted it all done by the time I got back to work.”

Clark lets out a sigh and purses his lips. “Kiddo, when was the last time you got a full night’s sleep?” His tone is so  _ fatherly _ it almost makes Dick want to cry again. 

“Couple weeks ago, maybe. Things’ve been busy. There’s been more important things. I needed to spend time with Babs and work and I promised Jay I’d help him study for all his exams. It’s just been a little busy,” he shrugs, trying to act nonchalant, not wanting Clark to get all worried for him. 

Clark looks worried anyway. Dick has to swallow a curse. 

“I’m fine, really. Just needed to vent a bit. Uh. Thanks for listening,” he glances at his watch as he stands. His shift doesn’t start for another two hours. “I’ve gotta get going. I’ve got work soon and I want to make sure Jason’ll be okay before I go in. Gotta pull another double, tonight and tomorrow. We’re playing clean-up crew now that all the Arkham inmates are locked up again. Lots of henchmen to finish rounding up and civilians to help out in their wakes. Thank you for letting me throw all my problems at you for a bit,” he says, trying to joke. 

It falls flat. 

Still, Clark doesn’t try to stop him, just stands with him and places a strong hand on his shoulder. “I’m not your father, so I’m not going to go bossing you around, Dick, but take care of yourself. It’s admirable how much you’re doing to take care of others. They’re all very lucky to have you. But remember you’ve gotta look out for yourself too. Be careful, okay? You seem like a good kid, I don’t want to hear about you getting hurt, alright?” Clark says gently, and then he pulls Dick in for a hug. 

Dick melts at the touch. 

It reminds him of his father. 

He returns to the penthouse feeling a little lighter, and when he gets home from his shift the next evening, he gets a full night’s sleep for the first time in three weeks. 

Clark must say something to Bruce too, cause Dick still hasn’t spoken to him yet, but the next time Dick goes to the Manor, the whole place has been made wheelchair friendly. Dick denies it later, but he sheds a tear as he hugs Bruce in thanks. 


	6. Diana

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> dick was hoping he'd get to go a little longer without a phone call that makes him feel like he's going to die

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello, a character has been injured, but we don't really see that yet, just watch out cause it's coming at ya soon

On his twenty third birthday, Dick takes the Detective’s exam and not long after, becomes the youngest detective Gotham PD has ever seen. Jim Gordon tells him he’s proud of everything Dick’s accomplished on the force. Dick can’t help the swell of satisfaction in his chest. Everything he’s done up to this point has been worth it. He’s helped people and he’s worked hard and he’s gotten himself here all on his own. He’s proud of himself, dammit. 

The look Alfred gives him after the ceremony is enough to make his eyes water. The whoop of excitement and crushing hug that Jason gives him makes him cry, not that he’s admit it. Babs wheels her chair into his ankles and tells him that he better be willing to take her out to nicer lunches now that he’s a hot shot detective. Babs’ roommate, a quiet girl named Cassandra who’s been staying with Barbara since just after she was released from the hospital, smiles brightly at him, and it warms him to his center. She hugs him enthusiastically, much to his surprise. He returns it without question, and it quickly turns into a massive group hug, Jason dragging Tim and Damian in despite their protests. 

Alfred snaps a picture while they’re all hanging off of each other, Jason half falling into Babs’ chair on top of her, only stopped by the arm he’s got on Damian’s shoulder. Damian’s glaring like he might suddenly develop the heat vision Superman’s got to bore holes through his brother’s head. 

It gets framed and hung up in the penthouse living room.

Dick is happy. Things are good. 

~*~

And then they’re not so good.

Dick honestly thought he’d get more than three and a half months of peace and quiet before something exciting happens again. Before getting another phone call that makes him think his heart is going to stop. He was not so lucky. He gets three and a half months almost to the day after he becomes a detective and then his phone rings while he’s in the middle of a shift  _ again _ . At this point, he’s honestly a little surprised he hasn’t gotten in some sort of trouble for the number of times he’s fielded frantic calls from his siblings during his shifts. 

It’s Tim this time. That worries Dick even more. Sometimes when he and Tim get into a spat, Damian will call Dick in an attempt to get him to take his side. Jason will call if there’s a problem at the penthouse or if Tim or Damian shows up there unexpected. A couple times it’s been Alfred to ask if Tim or Damian has called or shown up at the penthouse. 

Now that he thinks about it, for a kid who’s barely twelve, Damian is way too good at getting out of the house unnoticed. That’s a little concerning. But not what he should be worried about right at that moment. 

Tim’s calling him. 

Tim  _ never _ calls him. 

The TV in the corner playing a news story about the Justice League neutralizing a threat in London goes from a little too loud to a buzzing white noise in seconds. Dick picks up the phone, hand shaking as he presses the button to answer it. Across the bullpen, Dick sees Harvey Bullock stop his work and focus all his attention on Dick. 

He has to fight to keep the worry out of his voice as he answers. “Hey Timmy. What’s up, kiddo, everything okay? You don’t usually call me at work.” He tries to keep it light, like he can’t feel his heart trying to free itself from his ribcage as he speaks. Judging by the look on Bullock’s face, he doesn’t succeed. Tim doesn’t answer for a minute and Dick thinks his lungs seize up. He rests an elbow on his desk and puts his head in his hand, fingers tangling in his hair. “Tim?”

There’s another beat before Tim answers. “Yeah. Sorry I-Steph knock it off!-I’m sorry. Everything’s fine. I mean, everything’s not fine, but I’m fine. Damian is too before you ask-I swear to every higher being up there, I’m fine! Stop it!” Tim shouts, his voice sounding far away, like he’s holding the phone away from his face. Dick doesn’t recognize the name Steph. He files it away for later. “Listen, Dick, something happened with Bruce. A woman named Diana’s already picked up Jason. They’re headed your way right now, okay? You need to go with her. I’ll-Stephanie! What the-Sorry. I’ll explain everything when you get here, okay? I promise, we’ll explain everything, we just need you and Jay to come here. Please don’t question it until I can actually talk to you face to face. Just go with Diana. I’ve gotta go-Yes that means you can stitch it, impatient much?-They’re almost there. Tell your captain Bruce got in an accident and you have to leave. Gotta go. Bye Dick.”

The call cuts off immediately after that and Dick spends a solid thirty seconds just staring at the black screen, almost entirely unable to comprehend the conversation he’s just had with his little brother. Who was Stephanie?  _ Stitches?  _ Something had happened to Bruce? Who was this Diana woman? Dick can barely piece together a coherent train of thought with the mess of questions whipping around in his head.

He stares blankly at his desk for long enough that Bullock decides it’s a problem.

“Kid, what was that? Never seen you look so shaken by a phone call,” Bullock says as he settles against Dick’s desk, sipping out of a long cold mug of coffee. 

Dick stares down at his phone for a moment longer, his mouth opening and closing like a fish as he searches for words in his jumbled thoughts. “My little brother. Tim. He… something happened to our father. An accident. I need to… My brother Jason and a family friend are coming for me. I need to leave. I’m so sorry but I don’t know what happened and I need to go.”

Very suddenly, Dick feels almost frantic, looking up at Bullock with desperation in his eyes. 

It never occurs to him that this is the first time he’s ever called Bruce Wayne his father.

“Take a breath kid. Relax. If your old man’s hurt, you go. You take care of those brother’s of yours, you hear me? I’ll deal with the Captain. Looks like your escort is here. Get going,” Bullock says bluntly, with a nod toward the door. 

Sure enough, Jason is standing at the front desk, no doubt asking the officer there for Dick. Beside him, standing as tall as he does, which is rather impressive, is one of the most beautiful women Dick has ever seen. That must be Diana. Dick wonders again who she is and why she was sent for him and Jason. 

Then he sees the look on Jason’s face and his curiosity is forgotten. 

He barely remembers to thank Bullock before he scoops up his things and takes off. He skids to a halt next to Jason and places a hand on his brother’s arm, squeezing it reassuringly. 

Jason’s trembling. 

Dick knows his brother doesn’t like cops who aren’t him, but this is more than that. Jason’s worried for Bruce too. 

He doesn’t even get a word out before Jason’s interrupting him. 

“Tim made the Brat call me. He fucking… the kid sounded hurt, Dick. And B… He’s a bastard but he’s all we’ve got, right?” He sounds like he’s just thinking out loud, face set as he stares absently at a point just beyond Dick’s head. Dick wonders if he even realizes he’s speaking aloud. 

The woman’s face twists into a grimace before going carefully blank. 

She extends a hand to Dick. “Diana Prince. You must be Richard, yes? Bruce has told Clark and I so much about you.”

Dick shakes her hand, hides the fact that his is shaking. “All good things, I hope,” he responds, an easy smile coming to his face as the walls he’s reinforced since he was a child come up. He places himself carefully between Diana and his brother. 

Let Jason feel in as much privacy as he can be afforded. Dick can just keep his walls up. 

He’s very good at wearing this mask.

He is nothing if not a performer after all. 

“Small talk can be saved for later, though, right? Can you tell us what happened?” Dick says, the smile dimming just a bit. 

Diana purses her lips, her eyes gleaming. Dick notices. 

So she’s wearing a mask too, it seems. 

He wonders what hers hides.

She shakes her head, and Dick files the questions away for later, guiding Jason out of the precinct and following Diana down the street. “Your brother Timothy expressed his desire to explain the situation to you himself. I am sorry, Richard,” she says, voice soft. She seems like a kind woman, at least on this side of the mask she wears. Dick wonders again what is concealed on the other side. 

It’s then that he notices they don’t seem to be heading toward a car. Dick rests a hand on his service weapon where it’s still holstered on his hip. Just in case. Jason tenses.

Diana glances up and down the street and then turns into an alley. 

Dick draws his gun. Jason’s hands clench into fists. But they follow her anyway. Tim had seemed to trust her. That’s enough for them. 

When they catch up to her, Diana is standing in front of an old, out of order phone booth. Half of its glass panes are broken and the entire phone system from inside has been torn out. Not even the most desperate of people would come near this thing. It’s worthless at first glance and it still is on further inspection. Dick raises an eyebrow at Diana. Jason glances towards the alley entry. He’s uncomfortable, Dick can tell. 

“It’ll be a tight squeeze, but I need you both to step inside. And your weapon is not needed Richard. Put it away.”

For some reason, he listens, though not without a healthy amount of hesitance. 

He has no idea what this is leading up to. 

They press into the phone booth, a scowl set on Jason’s face, and Dick is about to ask what exactly is going on, when Diana speaks again. 

“Override, Wonder Woman Zero-Three. Two guests.”

Dick gets out a confused “What?” and Jason shouts “Fuck!” and the world goes blindingly white and then black, and Dick feels like he’s being crushed and stretched out all at once. 

Suddenly he can breathe normally again, and he stumbles out into a brightly lit room, blinking to clear his sight. His hand goes immediately to his gun, and he can see Jason settle into a stance that can only mean he’s looking to fight and then Diana steps up behind them. 

A voice from nowhere and everywhere all at once speaks. “Wonder Woman Zero-Three. Guest A-Two-One. Guest A-Two-Two.”

Dick glances around wildly trying to figure out where they are. 

“Dick?” he hears, and that’s not Jason or Diana. That’s Tim. Dick turns towards his little brother’s voice.

He immediately backpedals. 

Tim is half dressed, dark pants with sturdy boots laced up to his knees, and a vest left open over his chest, only one arm covered in a sleeve. 

His other arm is covered in gauze, like his stomach is. 

There’s a domino mask held loosely in his hand. 

Damian stands beside him, in full Blackbird gear. 

When Dick glances back to look at Jason, to make sure they’re both seeing this, he realizes Diana has shed the long coat she’d been wearing before, leaving her in red, blue and gold armor. She’s sitting to the side strapping on armored boots. 

“Grayson,” Damian says confidently, interrupting Dick’s wild thoughts, “We can explain.”

Dick surprises even himself then, by turning around and, staring at his little brothers, loudly stating, “What the fuck!” 


	7. Wally

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> dick gets knocked off his feet, and then the universe decides to keep kicking him while he's down, cause it's just one of those days. he doesn't know if he can believe anything he knows anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi, i'm not sorry for this sort of cliffhanger.  
> non-graphic description of injuries in here so watch out

Tim and Damian don’t say anything for a long time. Dick and Jason are stuck staring at their brothers, wondering what’s just happened. Dick thinks he may have just been drugged. It’s a strong possibility at this point. He’s not ruling out. 

Cause there are his little brothers. In vigilante uniforms. In… Wow. Okay. They’re in outer space. That wall wasn’t made up of monitors like Dick had initially thought. It’s made of windows.

Great.

It’s a small blonde girl, dressed entirely in purple who finally breaks the silence. She draws the mask away from the bottom half of her face to reveal a tired smile and addresses Dick. He vaguely recognizes her from a case he worked a few weeks ago. Another Gotham vigilante. The Spoiler.

She extends a hand that Jason glares and scoffs at. Dick shakes it once and then nervously tucks his hands into his pockets. He reaches up and undoes the top button of his dress shirt. Adjusts the badge he still has on his belt. Checks that his gun is properly secured in its holster. Tucks his hands back into his pockets. 

The Spoiler steps forward and places a hand on Dick’s forearm when he draws his hand from his pocket again. 

“I’m sure this is a lot, but can explanations wait till later? I got Tim and Damian all stitched up, but B is in bad shape. You should go see him.”

And,  _ fuck, _ that sounds a lot like she’s telling him he should go say goodbye. 

“I’m Stephanie, by the way, Tim’s girlfriend,” she says. That snaps Dick out of the daze he had fallen into. 

“Girlfriend?” 

Tim grimaces. “Later. I promise. All of this… we’ll explain it all later. I promise. Just. Please. Can we go see Bruce?”

Dick opens and closes his mouth a couple times before he decides he doesn’t trust his voice and simply nods. Tim leads the way down a hallway, and Dick and Jason follow silently. Damian and Stephanie take up the rear, leaving Diana behind. Damian’s limping. Dick doesn’t like it. 

Actually, he doesn’t like any of this. There’s far too much happening all at once for him to process it and his mind is a crazy mess of thoughts and questions and concerns and he feels a little dizzy from it all. Tim’s got a girlfriend he didn’t know about, and he and Damian are hurt, and he’s in  _ space, _ and Jason looks distressed, and he has no idea what the hell is going on with Bruce or why he’s up here and he’s just generally not liking the way this day is turning out.

His train of thought comes to a screeching halt the second they hit their destination. 

This area is obviously an infirmary, the walls of the rooms they’ve passed crisp white, rooms full of various equipment, most of it things that Dick’s never seen before, but all of it clearly medical. 

It hits Dick very hard in that moment that Bruce is not going to be okay when they see him and he doesn’t think he’s ready for that. 

Every question but one leaves his mind in that moment save one. 

_ Is Bruce going to be okay? _

Tim presses his hand to a panel next to a door at the end of this infirmary hallway, and it slides open slowly. 

Dick’s breath leaves him all in a rush. He hears Jason take a sharp breath beside him.

Bruce is laid out on the bed in the center of the room, his dark suit a stark contrast to his too pale skin and the too white room. 

His suit, the  _ Batsuit _ , Dick realizes, is cut away to the waist and laid out beneath him like they were too afraid to move him to get it out from under him. There’s a huge patch of gauze taped over most of Bruce’ abdomen and his chest is covered in ugly, mottled purple bruises, so dark they almost look black. The shallow breaths Bruce is taking make Dick think the bruises mean injured ribs. There’s a small stitched cut on Bruce’s forehead, another on his chin.

There’s a girl sitting by Bruce’s bed with her back to them, though she turns when the door opens. Dick quickly recognizes that it’s Cassandra, and then soon after that, recognizes the suit she’s wearing. Black Bat. The mask that had shown up on Gotham streets a while back. Never really interacted with the department though, so Dick wasn’t sure if she was much more than an urban legend, made up just because someone could. Apparently, she’s real, and she’s his best friend’s roommate.

Superman is sitting at Bruce’s other side, his brow creased with worry, hands folded together and pressed to his mouth as he watches the mostly steady rise and fall of Bruce’s chest. Dick stares at him for a moment before it hits him. 

“Jesus Christ. Clark?!” Dick exclaims, too loud in the silent room. 

He really doesn’t know anyone the way he thought he did. 

“Dick. Jason. I understand this must be a lot for you to take in right now and I-”

“I don’t wanna hear any of that shit. Someone is gonna tell me what the fuck happened to B, you’re gonna tell me if he’s gonna make it and then someone’s gonna show me a place I’m allowed to smoke, got it, big guy?” Jason interrupts, voice low and rough. His jaw is set, teeth clenched as he stares Clark down. 

Dick wants to chastise his brother for his smoking habit, but the words die before they even reach his lips.

Clark simply nods to Jason’s demand. “We were called to London to deal with a very powerful magic user causing chaos in the city. Bruce was struck by some sort of spell before the magic user could be subdued. The place the spell hit him is severely burned, and he sustained a few smaller injuries and seriously bruised a lot of his ribs when he fell after that.”

Dick’s heart seizes in his chest. God, no, not again. As absent as Bruce has been in his life, he’s the closest thing Dick’s got to a father, he’s family and he’s… Dick can’t lose another family member to a fall. 

Clark continues like he hasn’t noticed the way Dick’s suddenly gone pale. “The injuries from the fall would be easy enough to heal on their own, but the spell caused some sort of effect that even Zatanna can’t really pinpoint. He’s been in and out of consciousness, which she says is good, but she’s worried something worse might happen if he doesn’t really wake up in the next forty-eight hours. If he wakes up, he’ll be completely fine. We’ve just got to keep an eye on him until then. Until we reach the end of Zatanna’s time window, there’s not much to do but wait. I’m sorry.”

Jason holds up a hand. “Nope. That’s it. I don’t want no bullshit apologies from any a you assholes. I want someone to point me to a place I can smoke.” There’s moment of silence. “Now,” Jason all but growls and Stephanie pipes up from behind them, where she and Tim and Damian have been watching in silence for the past few minutes.

“Come on, Jason. I’ll show you a place,” Stephanie offers, and then they disappear. 

Tim lets out a slow breath and shifts uncomfortably behind Dick. “I’m going to go find a place to lie down for a bit. Let me know if anything changes.” He glances at Dick with an apology in his eyes. “Do you want to come and I’ll… I can explain what I can?” Dick shakes his head. There’s a scar on Tim’s neck he never noticed before. He wonders how long it’s been there. He turns back to look at Bruce. “Come on, Brat, you too. You haven’t slept in two days.”

Damian tuts and grumbles the whole way out, but Dick hears two sets of footsteps retreat down the hallway nonetheless. 

Clark looks up at Dick then, his eyes holding more sadness than Dick thinks anyone’s should. 

“I really am sorry, Dick, I tried, but I wasn’t fast enough. She hit him before I could stop him from falling. I’m so sorry you have to find out like this and that-”

Dick feels awful, but he cuts Clark off abruptly. “I don’t want apologies. I want Bruce to get better, because I cannot lose anyone else. And then I want the fucking explanation I deserve. Thank you for trying to help him.”

Dick turns on his heel and all but flees the room then, following empty hallway after empty hallway, until he comes to a little room that looks a bit like an observatory. It’s got one wall made up of a lot of windows, only this one is on the other side of whatever they’re in. These windows don’t face Earth. They face the vast expanse of space. 

Dick settles in a chair in a corner and draws his knees to his chest, feeling like a child, and rests his head on them, trying to steady his breathing. 

He stays that way for longer than he cares to admit. 

“You know, I felt like that the first time something happened to the Flash before me.”

The words startle Dick enough that he jolts out of the half asleep state he’d found himself in, and he leaps to his feet, hand on the weapon he’s still got holstered at his hip. His eyes dart around wildly until he finds the source of the voice. 

The Flash. 

The man is standing in front of Dick, the silver details on his suit glinting in the low light as he holds up his hands in a placating gesture. 

“Hey! No need for the gun. I’m one of the good guys!” he says, as he takes a few steps forward. He doesn’t look much older than Dick is. He’s got his cowl pulled off, wild orange hair falling into his face, freckles spread across his cheeks, a soft smile tugging at his lips. He’s a very handsome man, Dick thinks as he reaches out to shake his hand. “I’m Wally West. Flash Three-Point-Oh. You’re Batsy’s son, right?” 

“Dick Grayson,” Dick responds, instead of answering the question. Bruce must’ve at least mentioned him if a literal superhero gets who he is. Bruce must’ve called Dick his  _ son _ if the Flash recognizes him as such. 

Dick really doesn’t know how to feel about that. 

“Nice to meet you Dick,” Wally says, settling in just to the right of where Dick had just been curled in on himself. Dick sits too, a little hesitant. “You know this used to be my favorite room in the WatchTower when I was a kid. Especially when we had a rough mission or my uncle got hurt, I’d always come here. I had a hunch at least one of you would end up here, with Bats like he is.” 

Dick almost flinches at the statement. 

Wally winces. “I’m sorry. My mouth works faster than my brain, sometimes.” He takes a deep breath and just watches the stars with Dick for a long moment, not saying anything. “Supes told me you’re just learning about this side of Bats for the first time today. That can’t make this any easier. I know how terrifying it is to see someone you care about laid up like that. I know magic is stupid as hell and unpredictable and awful. But I’ve also worked with Bats for a while. That guy is the most stubborn asshole I’ve ever met. If anyone can pull through something like this, it’s him. I won’t tell you not to worry, cause that’s stupid, but I don’t think there’s a cause for serious concern.”

Dick cracks a small smile at that, and when he turns to look at him, Wally’s smiling at him too. 

God, he really is pretty. Dick has to shake that thought from his head. Now isn’t the time. 

“How can any of you do this? It’s so dangerous,” Dick whispers instead. 

Wally looks pointedly at the badge and gun on Dick’s belt. “What you do is dangerous too. Why do you do that?” 

“To help people.”

Wally’s look softens a bit. “Exactly. I’ve got these abilities that others don’t. I can do things that almost no one else can. I can protect people who can’t protect themselves. Who would I be if I didn’t?” 

“Bruce doesn’t. Neither do my kid brothers. They’re human. They don’t have special powers or anything. They’re just children! Tim’s barely eighteen! Damian’s not even twelve yet! How could he… I don’t understand how Bruce could put them in harm’s way like this. I mean, Jason and I he doesn’t really care for, I get that, but I thought he’d be more careful with Tim and Dami,” Dick mutters, shoulders slumping in something like defeat. 

Wally places a hand on his shoulder before Dick even registers that Wally’s moved, and Dick jumps slightly at the contact. 

“Dick, I don’t know you. I hardly know Bats and I regularly trust him with my life. But one of the very few things I know about him is how much he cares for his  _ four _ sons and his daughter.” Wally emphasizes the wrong part of that sentence. 

Dick knows Wally’s trying to point out that Bruce has talked about he and Jason as his sons as much as Tim and Damian. 

But that’s not what hits him about that statement.

For the fourth time that day, Dick starts to question everything he knows about his family. 

Quietly, barely audible, even to his own ears, Dick says, “I have a sister?”


	8. Redbird

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tim begins to explain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> what's up friends, we're almost ready for the family implosion of the century

Wally smacks a hand over his mouth the second Dick stops speaking. 

“Oh god, what have I done?” he says, eyes wide, words muffled by his hand. “Bats is gonna kill me.” He takes a few moments to look freaked out and then he drops his hand and stares full on at Dick. “Wait. He didn’t tell you that you have a sister? How could he just not tell you about a whole person being added to your family?” Wally asks incredulously. 

Dick puts his head in his hands and leans forward, sighing heavily. He lets out a mirthless laugh. “It’s not even the first time he’s done it! I didn’t find out he’d adopted Jason until weeks after it happened. Tim told me about his own adoption and Damian’s. Hell, I don’t know why I’m surprised at this point!” Dick says, a little hysterical, glancing up at Wally. “Do you know… do I know who she is? Have I met her before?”

Wally’s face does something that Dick doesn’t really have the energy to decipher. “Her name’s Cassandra. Goes by Black Bat. Far as I know she lives with Barbara, the Batgirl that Joker took out of commission. I think she’s Oracle now? I don’t know. I can’t keep up with the Bats and all their secrets.” 

Dick stares, slack jawed. “Right, no, yeah, of course, why not? Of  _ course _ my ex-girlfriend is in on all this nonsense too. Only makes sense. Goddammit!” Dick sits up, dropping his hands into his lap. “Jason’s going to lose his mind when I tell him about our sister and Babs. I’m gonna have to tell him soon, before someone else does. He gets angry pretty easily,” he murmurs absently, thinking aloud. 

“Dick,” Wally says softly, and Dick knows without looking that the other man’s hands are hovering like he wants to provide physical comfort but doesn’t want to cross a line. Dick’s half glad that Wally isn’t touching him, and half wants to fling himself at this stranger because he desperately wants someone to hug him and tell him everything will be all right.

It really feels like it’s not going to be okay right now. 

Instead of saying anything like that though, Dick stands abruptly and pastes a mask on his face. When he turns to look back at Wally, his expression is carefully blank. He makes himself smile just a little. 

“I’ve been here for a while. Would you mind showing me back to the infirmary? I should probably check on Bruce and then hunt down my little brothers, but I’m a little lost in this place,” he jokes with a short laugh. 

Wally’s face does that strange thing it did when Dick asked about his sister, and Dick realizes it’s some kind of sadness twisting his features. Dick widens his smile carefully, and Wally’s face only gets sadder. 

He lets the smile drop, but keeps the rest of the mask in place as Wally leads him down hallways he barely remembers travelling before. 

Bruce still looks sickly pale when Dick enters the room. Tim is sitting at his bedside. 

“I thought you were going to rest,” Dick says quietly from the doorway. 

Tim still jumps at the sound. 

There are bags under his eyes and Dick can see bruises peeking out from the collar of the loose shirt he’s donned. His left arm is covered in gauze still, though, now that Dick’s not as panicked as he had been upon first seeing it, it doesn’t look as bad as it had before. He’s holding himself carefully, and Dick remembers the injury on his stomach too. 

Still, when he turns to face Dick, there’s a tired smile on his face. “Dick! I didn’t know where you went and Clark had to leave and I didn’t… I didn’t want B to be alone if he woke up. I got Damian to fall asleep. I checked on Jason, he’s with Roy. Uh. Arsenal. I think they were going to head to a training room so that Jay can hit something. That’ll probably be good for him. I was gonna try to find you but then Clark said he needed to leave so I just came here instead, I’m sorry,” Tim rambles, nervously twisting his hands where they rest in his lap. 

Dick doesn’t hesitate, crossing the room in two long strides and wrapping his brother in a tight hug. 

“I’m so sorry,” Tim all but whimpers into Dick’s chest.

“You have nothing to be sorry for, kiddo. I’m sorry I just disappeared. I’m not mad at you, okay? I’m upset you didn’t tell me about all of this, but I’m not mad at you or Dami,” Dick reassures him. 

From the doorway, Wally gently interrupts. “I’ve got to head back down planet-side and take care of some things, but have one of the Bats give you my number, okay Dick? Just in case you need to talk about anything. It was nice to meet you. I’ll catch you around Little Bat.” He waves at the two of them and then he’s gone. Dick pulls away from Tim and stays crouched in front of him, waiting for the response he knows is coming. 

Tim barely acknowledges that someone else had said anything, focusing on Dick’s words as though there hadn’t been an interruption. “Not me or Dami. But Bruce. You’re mad at him, aren’t you?” 

As though he can hear them, Bruce grumbles, twitching in his sleep. They both watch him carefully for a moment before breaking the silence again. 

“He lied to me, Tim. He’s been lying to me since I was nine years old. For fourteen years. That doesn’t feel good, to know that. And then on top of that he lied to Jay and made you and Dami lie for him and he just flat out didn’t tell me we have a sister and Babs lied to me too, and I’m sure all of this is the reason you felt you couldn’t tell me about your girlfriend and I just. None of this feels good. I don’t like it. I don’t like that you’ve been put in danger like this, I don’t like that he’s in danger like this, I don’t like not knowing if Bruce is going to live or not, I just don’t like any of this,” Dick says, feeling out of breath by the time he finishes. 

Tim looks visibly more upset as Dick goes quiet, pulling his knees up to his chest and curling up in his chair, though he immediately seems to regret the way that tugs at his injuries. When he notices the way Dick’s watching him, Tim scratches the back of his neck sheepishly with his uninjured arm. 

“It’s not as bad as it looks, I promise. The magic user we were having trouble with was just causing a mess and I got hit with some debris while I was doing crowd control. B didn’t let us near the action on this one, not with so much of the League there. Damian got hit with something too, but he’s just got a nasty bruise on his side that’ll heal up in a week or so. These cuts were barely deep enough to warrant stitches, and Doc Midnite patched me up and gave us both the all clear. We’re okay. Not totally fine, but we’re okay.”

“How could he let you do this, Tim? You’re both  _ children _ . And Redbird’s been around for years already. Have you been doing this since before Bruce even adopted you? How could you… oh my god. You knew,” Dick says, dragging a hand roughly through his hair. “You figured out who he was. You told me and Jason and we dismissed you.”

“I should’ve had more solid proof when I came to you. But I waited a little longer and I went to Bruce and I told him I knew who he was, and I demanded that he make me his partner. I mean, he had Batgirl, but she didn’t always work with her and without someone there, B was getting bad. He was spiralling without someone to pull him back sometimes. So I demanded he let me be his partner, or I’d go public with his identity and Batgirl’s.” Tim sighs, fingering the edge of the bandaging on his arm. “He agreed, because he was worried about what would happen to you and Jason and Barbara if I told people who he was.”

Dick has to take a moment to process that. He rights himself and drags another chair over so he can sit next to Tim. Tim had made Bruce take him on as a partner? 

“And Damian? How is Bruce okay letting a twelve year old out to deal with psychopaths like the Joker?” Dick says, instead of addressing his feelings on what Tim’s told him. 

Tim goes stock still for a moment before he seems to force himself to loosen up. “Damian’s not like normal kids. When he first came to stay with us and he was all standoffish and we told you it was cause his mom was maybe abusive? That wasn’t entirely true. I mean, she’s an absolutely awful person, but that’s not all of it. Damian’s mother is Talia al Ghul. You know, the… terrorist. She was training Damian to be an assassin before the kid could even really walk. Bruce decided to let him work with us so he’d have a less violent outlet, and so we could train him out of his more… murderous tendencies. It was for the best, please trust me on that. Damian’s more than capable of handling himself.”

“That doesn’t make me feel any better about all of this, kiddo,” Dick mumbles unhappily. He stares down at Bruce, asleep in what’s essentially a hospital bed, and is hit with a flash of memory so painful he has to blink back tears. “You were the one the found Babs, when she got shot. You. Oh god, Timmy,” he gasps.

Tim winces. “Yeah. That was… Don’t worry. I didn’t just… I dealt with it, okay? Please don’t worry about that.” 

Dick wants to point out how stupid that is. As though he’d ever stop worrying about his little brother. But he doesn’t want to get into anything over little things right now. Not with their… their father laid out in front of them fighting to wake up again. 

Instead, he pulls a knee up to his chest and rests his chin on it, wraps his arms around his leg and quietly requests, “Tell me a little bit about our sister?”

That brings a small smile to Tim’s face. He does. 

He tells Dick about Cassandra, and how Bruce had just finalized her adoption a couple weeks ago. How she’d been raised to be a weapon, but fought against that, seeking out Barbara, because she was Batgirl. How Barbara trained her, and how Tim and Bruce and Babs have been helping her learn to speak and read, and how even Damian has started to pitch in. 

He tells Dick about Damian, and how much progress the kid’s made from trying to murder him, to begrudgingly working with him. 

He tells Dick about Stephanie, about how they met as Spoiler and Redbird and slowly got to know each other as Tim and Steph. A smile crawls across his face then, as he speaks, and a flush colors his cheeks and Dick can’t help the swell of happiness in his chest as his brother talks about this girl he cares so much. It’s a bright spot in the day. 

He tells Dick about Clark, and how Bruce won’t confirm anything yet, but he’s almost positive that Bruce has started dating Superman. That gets a surprised bark of laughter out of Dick, just from the sheer ridiculousness of that statement. Bruce, the world’s broodiest man, is probably dating Clark, one of the sunniest, nicest guys Dick’s ever met. 

Tim looks at Dick as he laughs, and a laugh escapes his lips too, and they quickly dissolve into fits of hysterical giggles, the stress of the day finally catching up with them. 

By the the time they quiet down and one of them finally bothers to glance at a clock, they notice it's been a long while since Tim started catching Dick up on everything that’s been kept from him since he came to live with Bruce. 

Dick, surprised to find he has service in  _ space _ , calls into work to let them know he’ll need to take a few personal days to deal with a family emergency. Tim, using something that definitely isn’t a phone, calls Roy to check up on Jason. Dick overhears something along the lines of ‘He says fuck off Red’, before the conversation stops.

Tim slumps a little but Dick draws him back to the chairs they’ve been sitting in and tells him a story about Bullock getting scared out of his skin by a stray cat while they were working the other day and by the end of it, they’re both nodding off, slumped against Bruce’s bed. 


	9. Roy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the beginnings of a LONG fight, and a certain archer makes an appearance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> two chapters in a day? must be a sign of the apocalypse.

Tim and Dick wake up hours later to Damian wrenching them back away from Bruce’s bedside, the two of them startling into alertness abruptly. Dick’s about to ask what’s wrong when he sees it for himself. 

Damian, still in full Blackbird gear, looks well rested, but still shaken by what’s happening. 

Dick’s frozen in place for a moment too, as his eyes land on Bruce, who’s seizing in his hospital bed. Once he shakes the panic that’s gripped his chest, he tries to get up, to help in any way, but Damian yanks him back down into his seat. “Stay put Grayson. Allow her to work.”

It’s only then that Dick notices the woman in the room with them, who he recognizes as Zatanna from the few times he’s seen her on the news, fighting alongside the League. She’s a magic user. She’s the one Clark said had looked at Bruce earlier.

Dick relaxes, but only minutely, as Zatanna holds her hands over Bruce and mutters something in a language that barely sounds like a language. Energy pulses from her hands, the white light turning black as it connects with Bruce’s body. As the seizing begins to lessen, Zatanna smiles up at them, tired looking, her hands starting to tremble as she keeps up whatever she’s doing.

“Believe it or not, that was good. It’s the chaos magic attempting to leave his body. I didn’t think I’d have to help, but this is good. He should wake up as soon as I can pull it all from his system,” Zatanna assures. The energy flowing between her and Bruce is almost entirely black. “Right about now,” she says. There’s a burst of air and the energy dissipates with a snap, Zatanna staggering back a step with the force of it. 

There’s a moment where they all hold their breath, watching. Waiting. 

Bruce’s chest doesn’t move. His eyes stay closed. 

Dick’s heart seizes in his chest. He clutches Damian’s hand where it’s still on his shoulder. Zatanna steps forward, like she thinks something’s gone wrong. 

And then Bruce jerks upright, gasping loudly as his eyes fly open. 

His eyes dart around wildly, trying to figure out where he is before he groans through clenched teeth and falls back to the bed. Bruce doesn’t move for a moment, breathing heavily as he lies on his back and stares at the ceiling. Jolting awake like that obviously must’ve aggravated his injuries, and Dick winces in sympathy. 

But then Bruce opens his eyes again and his gaze falls to Dick. His expression immediately twists into something ugly and all Dick’s feelings of sympathy vanish instantly.

“What are you doing here, Richard?”

That sends Dick’s feelings directly into the ‘angry’ territory. 

“You almost died, Batman,” Dick bites out, trying not to let his anger get the better of him. He can’t keep the bitterness from his voice.

“I’m perfectly fine, as you can see. Who brought you up here?” Bruce grumbles, prodding at the bruises on his chest, trying to assess his injuries for himself. 

Tim speaks up quietly. “I had Diana bring him. Zatanna wasn’t sure you were going to wake up. We couldn’t just let Dick and Jason not get to say goodbye when you were dying, B.”

Bruce fixes Tim with a glare that could make the criminals Dick deals with everyday cry. “You brought Jason up here too?” he all but growls. 

Tim ducks his head and that’s the breaking point for Dick.

“No,” he says firmly, standing up so he towers over Bruce in his bed. “No, you do not get to do this. You don’t get to ‘Richard’ me or get mad at Tim for bringing us up here. You absolutely do not get to do that! You almost died, Bruce! You almost died and Jason and I would’ve had no idea what had happened to you! Do you even get how unfair that would’ve been? To make Tim and Dami keep the circumstances of your death a secret? To keep so much of your life from me and Jason? I mean, for the love of god, you didn’t even tell us we have a sister! You have done nothing but lie to me, to us, for years, Bruce!” Dick yells, his voice booming in the quiet room. 

Zatanna makes her way out of the room silently. Tim and Dami watch in something between shock and horror. 

“Richard,” Bruce says gruffly.

Dick makes a noise of outrage. “What the fuck did I just say? What did I  _ just  _ say? You do not get to ‘Richard’ me like you’re some concerned father! You’re not my father! You never were! I was just a trial run for when you were going to actually decide to care about your kids! I was the one that wasn’t good enough! I don’t think you understand just exactly how  _ fucking awful _ that makes me feel? I’m not your son. I’m not legally their brother! IF you had died, I would have no legal right to do anything for these kids. I’d be cut off from helping my family, cause you didn’t care about me! And you have the goddamn  _ nerve _ to ‘Richard’ me right now? You’re unbelievable. Glad you actually woke up. You’re welcome for taking off of work to come make sure you were okay. You can go to hell.”

He doesn’t stop to wait for an answer before he’s storming out of the room. 

Tim’s voice follows him out into the hall, but he doesn’t stop. 

It takes Dick three tries before he takes the correct turn to get him back to the large room he’d first entered when he arrived. He feels a sense of accomplishment at that, and then he remembers the damn transporters that got him here and that he has no idea how to operate them, even if he did have the clearance he doesn’t have. 

He’s barely thinking when he lets out a frustrated cry and takes a swing at the nearest wall. 

A red clad hand appears and grabs his arm before his fist can make contact. He knows it’s for the best, he doesn’t need to go breaking his hand, but he still rounds on the person connected to the hand with a snarl on his face. 

“What,” he growls, narrowing his eyes. 

Wally releases him instantly. 

“Sorry. Just didn’t think you really wanted a messed up hand. Everything okay? You seem really upset. Oh, crap, is Bats okay?” Wally says in a rush.

“Just fine. Peachy. Get me out of this godforsaken place,” Dick demands. 

It doesn’t really do what he was hoping. There’s no heat behind his words. His hands are trembling as he runs one through his hair. His jaw is clenched as he blinks back the sudden wetness in his eyes. Each breath he’s taking is shakier than the last. 

He’s absolutely not expected it when Wally tugs him into a tight hug. “I don’t know what’s up, and dude, tell me if this is too much, but you really just seem like you needed a hug.”

Dick doesn’t answer, just clings to the back of the Flash costume like his damn life depends on it. 

Wally, for his part, just lets Dick shake apart for a little while, before pulling back, guiding him towards the teleporters. 

Before he touches them though, he holds out a hand. “Gimme your phone. I’m gonna give you my number before I zeta you back to Gotham, and then you’re gonna go home, make yourself some tea or something, take a bath, burn some incense, meditate, I don’t care. Just relax. Process whatever you’ve gotta. Then text me and let me know you’re doing okay? I couldn’t stop thinking about how much this all must suck for you last night. I wanna know you’re doing all right.” 

Dick unlocks and hands over his phone without a word. Wally takes it and taps in his contact information faster than Dick’s eyes can follow. He hands it back and Dick almost smiles at the little lightning bolt emoji next to Wally West in his contacts list. 

“Override Flash Zero-Four, one Guest,” Wally says loudly, as he turns and taps at the screen next to the teleporter. The zeta. Whatever it is. “Step on in there. You’ll get let out in the same spot Diana brought you up from. Text me so I know you’re not losing it, okay Dick? And you know. All that ‘don’t say anything about what you saw up here’ nonsense. You’re a smart guy, I’m sure you got that.”

Dick steps forward. 

“Grayson A-Two-One,” the machine says. 

Dick’s on the streets of Gotham in the dim light of morning before he can ask how his name is in their system.

~*~

He makes it back to the penthouse on foot in record time, and without attracting even a single glance from anyone else. 

He slams the door shut behind him and tosses his things aside. Removes the clip from his gun. Tucks it away where it belongs. Toes off his shoes. Pitches them to the side. Collapses on the couch. 

“Oh hey, you must be Dick,” a voice he doesn’t recognize says. 

Dick nearly jumps clean out of his skin. 

“Who the hell are you?” he exclaims, leaping from his seat on the sofa. He stumbles back a step at the sight of a stranger in his apartment, trips over the coffee table and lands painfully on the other side with a groan. 

The stranger, who isn’t wearing a shirt, mutters, “Oh shit,” and leaps over the couch to crouch next to Dick. “Don’t move, you might’ve hit your head.”

“Phenomenal,” Dick huffs.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you so much. I’m Roy. Roy Harper. Arsenal. I work with-”

“Yeah, yeah, let’s not talk about him right now.” 

Roy nods, but doesn’t pause in checking to make sure Dick didn’t bang himself up too bad tripping over the coffee table. “No talking about the old man. No trouble. I know the feeling. You doing alright, besides the fall?”

Roy sits back a little bit, and Dick takes the opening to shrug him off and stand. 

“I’ve already got the Flash worrying over me, I don’t need to take up more people’s time. I’ll be fine.”

“Dude, does it look like I’m handling anything pressing?”

“You’re a hero. You’ve probably got more important things to be worrying about than me.” Dick mumbles, then, turning back to Roy, says a bit louder, “Wait. What the hell are you doing in my apartment?”

Roy flushes a bit and a half smile comes to his face. “Your brother brought me back here last night.”

Dick studies him, the flush, the absence of a shirt, the sweatpants that are obviously Jason’s, the bruises, no,  _ hickeys _ , on his neck, and Dick’s blood boils. “Jason was upset yesterday. Emotionally vulnerable. I know you know that. I swear to god if you took advantage of that,  _ Arsenal _ , I don’t care who you are or who you know, I will ruin you, do you understand me?” Dick snarls, and Roy pales. His smile vanishes, his expression going suddenly serious. 

He glances down at himself before grimacing. “I know what this looks like. But I swear, I didn’t let it get that far. Jason tried, but I turned him down. We made out a bit, sure, but I stopped it there. I knew he wasn’t exactly thinking straight. He loaned me some sweats to sleep in, and I stayed the night, but that was all. I promise. I’m not in the business of hurting people, Dick.”

Dick finds himself believing Roy. He sighs and shakes his head, scrubbing a hand over his face. 

“Look, you and Jay had a long night last night, obviously. I’ll make some breakfast if you work that ridiculously over complicated coffee pot the two of you keep around.” 

Dick nods, pleased to have a task to focus on, instructions to follow, though he does mutter, “I like fancy coffee sometimes. Sue me,” over his shoulder at Roy. 

“Just for that one, you can be the one to wake up your brother, Grayson.”

Dick rolls his eyes. “I was gonna anyway. Don’t even want to know how you woulda tried to do it,” he says quietly, heading for Jason’s bedroom. 

Roy barks out a surprised laugh as Dick walks away, and  Dick’s heart feels just a little lighter.


	10. Batman

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> roy gives some advice and dick gets some things off of his chest

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> passing reference of roy's past addiction, and a confrontation between dick and bruce. also, there’s some Language in here cause dick is Angry

Roy somehow manages to dig up ingredients to make pancakes and bacon, though Dick has no idea where all that came from. He doesn’t remember the last time he or Jason went to a grocery store. It takes almost fifteen minutes for Dick to rouse Jason, and that is a feat only achieved when his brother is given the reminder that Roy’s in the penthouse with them. That gets Jason to finally crawl out from under the veritable mountain of blankets he’s buried himself under. 

Dick makes a noise of disgust when he sees the dark bruise on Jason’s collarbone, and calls “Harper! You’re a dead man!” out into the hallway. 

“Defiling my innocent baby brother in our home!” Dick says dramatically, flopping across Jason’s legs. “How dare he? I’m hurt that I’ve been so disrespected! I must fight him for your honor!” He leaps to his feet again and turns to bodily lift Jason from the bed. Getting him up and setting him on his feet is a significantly more difficult task than Dick was necessarily anticipating, but he makes it happen. The amused expression he’s met with when he straightens up makes it all worth it. 

He knows that despite how well he kept himself together around everyone yesterday, Jason’s taking the news about this family secret pretty hard. 

Dick would do anything to make his brother even the slightest bit happier at the moment, especially given the fact that he’s got to explain the whole ‘surprise, we have a sister’ thing soon.

By the time they emerge from Jason’s bedroom, Roy’s got breakfast well under way, the coffee’s brewing and Jason’s wearing a shirt, at Dick’s insistence. 

Roy smirks at Dick and points his spatula like a weapon. “I’m not just an expert marksman with a bow, Grayson. Watch who you’re pickin’ fights with.” he warns, but then he turns and flips a pancake, and the effect is lost. Dick chuckles and Jason lets out a huff of laughter, like he doesn’t want to let himself be anything but angry.

Dick pours them each a cup of coffee and they sit in comfortable silence as Roy finishes up breakfast. 

It’s, surprisingly, Roy who breaks the silence as they sit around the kitchen island eating. 

“So. Bats has been lying to you the whole time, huh?”

Jason grumbles something unintelligible and probably foul into his coffee and then louder, says, “That bastard has been keeping me and Dickhead in the dark for years. He put our little brothers in the line of fire in what’s pretty much a fucking war. He’s just been lying. About everything.”

“Not just our brothers,” Dick says quietly, unable to make eye contact with Jason.

“The fuck does that mean, Dick?”

Dick sighs and pushes food around his plate with a grimace. “Bruce didn’t tell us. We have a sister too. He adopted Cass a little while back.”

Roy’s eyebrows shoot towards his hairline. 

“He fucking what,” Jason bites out.

“Babs’ roommate. She’s Black Bat. And she’s our sister.” 

Roy lets out a low whistle. “Okay. Wow. Look,” he says in a slow, calm voice. “I’m obviously not an expert on your particular situation. I always knew Ollie was Green Arrow. Can’t relate there. But I sure as fuck know about shitty parents.”

“Oh do you now?” Jason says sarcastically. 

Roy just holds out his arm wordlessly. His skin is criss-crossed with scars, some deep and ugly, some no more than shiny pink skin. Dick doesn’t get it for a moment, but then he sees it, the faint shadow of faded track marks. “I got hooked on heroin, and when Oliver found out, he kicked me out.”

Jason snaps his mouth shut. 

There are a few tense moments of silence.

“It’s old news. I’m clean now. Not the point anyway. Point is, I never really fixed my shit with Ollie. We’re civil. We can work together. He asks about my kid sometimes. But that shit always hangs over our heads. Don’t leave this thing with Bats unaddressed. Maybe it’s not gonna get fixed right away or ever. Maybe you never forgive him. But at least do something about it. Get some sort of resolution for now. That’s my two cents on the matter.” 

Roy nods to punctuate his sentence and then takes a long drink from his coffee mug. 

Jason, of course, focuses on the wrong part of that little speech. 

“You have a kid?”

“You have strange priorities,” Roy counters. Dick snorts. “Don’t get your panties in a twist, you’re not a homewrecker or anything. I haven’t been with Lian’s mother for a long time.”

Jason shovels food into his mouth instead of responding. 

Dick takes a second to marvel at the sheer oddity of this moment. He’s sitting in this penthouse that’s not even really his, with his brother and a superhero, who made them breakfast and is giving them advice on how to handle a family crisis. 

It’s not how Dick had been expecting to spend his day, in the slightest, but as conversation shifts to Roy’s daughter and Dick’s circus days and Jason’s studies, Dick decides it’s not that bad. 

“I’ve gotta get going,” Roy says, after helping them clean up breakfast and gathering the things he’d left in Jason’s room the night before. “I’ve left Lian with Artemis for long enough. Jason’s got my number, and I know Wally left you his, Dick. Can’t promise we’ll always answer right away, but we will always answer eventually if you need something from us. Remember what I said. Talk to Bats, as much as you probably don’t want to. Dick, text Wally too. And Jason, I’m holding you to dinner next weekend. Text me.” 

And then he’s out the door, leaving a blushing Jason and conflicted Dick in his wake. 

Dick really doesn’t want to take his advice. 

He does. 

He texts Wally, lets him know that he’s okay, tells him about Roy’s advice. Wally responds enthusiastically, and then offers to take Dick out to cheer him up if it doesn’t go how he wants. Dick agrees, and doesn’t realize he’s just set up a date with a superhero until hours later.

It takes another day, but Tim finally sends him a text saying that Doctor Midnite has released Bruce from the WatchTower infirmary. 

Bruce is back at the Manor within the hour. 

Dick forces himself to leave the penthouse, to get into his car and start driving before he loses his nerve. 

Jason refuses to even look at Dick as he’s leaving. 

He’s on his own for this one, no matter how desperately he doesn’t want to be. 

When Clark answers the door, instead of Bruce or Alfred, Dick lets out a sigh of relief so strong it almost makes his lungs hurt. 

“I’ve gotta talk to Bruce,” Dick says, his voice soft, but steady. Clark doesn’t question it, just leads Dick into the Manor and into the sitting room where Bruce is set up, probably ordered to rest by Alfred. He’s looking through a file, but he closes it and drops it to the table as soon as he sees Dick. 

His expression isn’t quite a scowl, but it’s close enough that it sets Dick on edge right from the start. 

Clark doesn’t leave like Dick thought he would, nor does he take a place near Bruce. 

He sits on the other side of the room where Dick’s standing. It’s a clear statement. Clark knows what this is about, and he’s not on Bruce’s side about it. That makes Dick relax a little, though he’s still strung out to no end. 

“Dick. It’s nice to see you,” Bruce says carefully, eyes sweeping over him once. Cold. Assessing. Dick crosses his arms over his chest and doesn’t cow under Bruce’s stare, no matter how much he wants to. 

“You have a lot of explaining to do. I’m not going to beat around the bush here, Bruce. Fourteen years. I came to live with you when I was nine. So you have been lying to me for fourteen years. Which I could’ve understood if there were no consequences to that lie. But no. Your insistence to keep this a secret forced my little brothers to lie to me. It forced my closest friend, the girl who’s practically my sister, to lie to me. You have done nothing but lie to me, for the entire time I’ve known you. And that hurts, a lot. Not to mention that every time I’ve gained a new sibling, someone else has been the one to tell me. Do you know how it feels to learn you’ve got a sister from a complete goddamn stranger? Cause I do now. And it feels shitty. Really, really goddamn shitty.”

Bruce clears his throat. “I meant to tell you about Cassandra. I was planning to ask you all to come over to the Manor for dinner, but unfortunately something came up. It was never my intention to keep that knowledge from you, with any of your siblings. The knowledge about what the others and I do, however, I kept from you to protect you. I do not regret that.”

Clark makes a small noise at that, and when Dick glances at him, he’s grimacing. 

Dick, for his part, just looks angry. 

“You don’t regret it. Really? You don’t regret making everyone lie for you? Do you regret pushing Jason away? I couldn’t even get him to talk to me this morning he was so angry at just the thought of seeing you. You know who he’s talking to? Roy Harper. A man who was a complete stranger to us a couple days ago. It shouldn’t be like that. Do you get that?” 

Bruce doesn’t say a word, watching him. Dick waits for a beat before letting out a frustrated sigh and continuing in the silence that Bruce lets sit.

“Oh my god, you don’t even have a response? Look, I get it, okay? I’m not your son. I was just a trial run or whatever. But Jason is. He deserves better, than this!”

That elicits a reaction from Clark, at least. 

“Dick,” he says gently, “I know you’re upset, but that’s a little extreme. You’re a part of the family, you know that.”

Dick scoffs. “Oh, he never said anything? Bruce never adopted me. I wasn’t good enough for it.” His words are biting, harsh, meant to hurt. “I was only ever his ward. I’m not his son. He never cared to do that much.”

“Richard, that is ridiculous,” Bruce snaps back. 

“Oh, is it really, Bruce? Tell me how that’s ridiculous. How? Cause the way I see it, you never adopted me. Never made me legally family. You never did that for me and you still went running around Gotham dressed as a  _ fucking  _ bat beating up bad guys and risking your life and my little brother’s lives every night, without telling me. And because I wasn’t good enough for you to adopt, you put me in a position where these kids are my family, but I’m not theirs and if something happened to you, there’d be nothing I could do for them. I ceased being legally tied to this family when I turned eighteen. So if you died, I couldn’t take custody of them without jumping through an obscene number of hoops, cause in the eyes of the law, I mean  _ nothing _ to the Wayne name. Do you get even a little bit of how difficult it is, knowing that? Do you get how  _ fucking terrified _ I was that I was going to lose my brothers when I saw you laid up in that infirmary like that? Do you understand at all the position you’ve put me in and how awful it is?”

Bruce has the decency to look a little sheepish at that. “I didn’t want to try to replace your parents. I wanted to make sure that you’d never want for anything without being too overbearing.”

Dick actually screams then, throwing his hands up into the air and beginning to pace. “How dense are you?” he shouts at Bruce, his hands shaking as he wrings them together. “All I wanted was a family! I don’t care about all of this stuff! I don’t care about the cars or the fancy house or all the things! All I wanted was someone to be there for me and all I got was an empty mansion and your butler! Alfred’s good as family to me, you know that, but he’s your  _ butler _ , Bruce. To a terrified nine year old kid who just lost his parents, do you know what that looked like? It looked a whole lot like you took in the poor circus kid who lost his parents as a media stunt and then didn’t know what to do with him. I felt like a charity case. And I still used to go to your room when I’d scream myself awake with nightmares. I was nine and terrified and alone and all I wanted was someone to be there, all I wanted was a dad, and all I got was Alfred promising me that you would be there if you could. You didn’t give me jack shit, Bruce, so you can cut the act.”

Dick’s breathing heavily and staring Bruce down by the time he finishes speaking, his whole body trembling with something he might call rage if he had the presence of mind to try to name it. Clark, he knows, is staring at Bruce as well, his mouth hanging open a little, his eyes wide and sad. He looks like a kicked puppy. 

“I wasn’t aware you felt this way,” Bruce starts. 

“No,” Dick shoots back, “You wouldn’t be, because you’ve been around for maybe five percent of my life and that’s being generous.”

Dick isn’t trying to be civil in any way. He’s angry. He’s been lied to. He wants Bruce to be held accountable for all of this. 

“Bruce,” Clark says, his voice sounding strained, and Dick doesn’t know if it’s because he didn’t know all of this before or if because hearing it hurts him as much as hurts Dick. Dick doesn’t really care to look at it enough to find out. 

Bruce doesn’t say anything, his face an unreadable mask, and Dick comes to a sudden realization that has him wanting nothing more than to punch Bruce in the face. 

He’s been having a conversation with Batman this whole time, not Bruce Wayne. 

He’s going to rectify that if it's the last damn thing he ever does.


	11. Bruce

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> dick and bruce begin to resolve some things, bruce does something he should've done long ago and jason begins his own sort of conflict resolution.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello! bruce is finally starting to pull his head out of his ass! things are not fixed! but they are looking up now!
> 
> [also, have a jayroy playlist if you're interested!](http://grxysxns.tumblr.com/post/169682989156/danger-a-jayroy-playlist-for-broken-boys-just)

Dick has to work very hard to keep himself from lunging across the room to hit Bruce in his stupid passive face.

Distantly, he makes the connection that Bruce is probably keeping up this mask to contain a maelstrom of emotion, just like Dick has been doing for the past few days.

Dick also doesn’t particularly care why Bruce is doing it. If he’s trying to contain his emotions, all the more reason for Dick to tear the walls down. He wants to see Bruce hurt just a fraction of how much he’s hurting.

Crossing his arms over his chest, Dick meets Bruce’s gaze with a glare to rival the Bat’s.

“I don’t know what you think you’re doing, but I’m trying to have a conversation with Bruce, not Batman. So drop the act. I’m only giving you one chance, Bruce. You either get it together and start acting like a father to all of us, or I will do something about it, got it?” The threat is clear in his voice.

Clark clears his throat. “Dick, why don’t you take a seat. I’m sure we can figure this out, but we have to keep clear heads, okay?” Dick sits. Clark turns to Bruce, no longer hunching in on himself to make himself smaller and less intimidating. “You need to start participating in this conversation. I don’t like what I’m hearing,” he warns, and that gets the biggest reaction of the afternoon out of Bruce.

At Clark’s words, Bruce sags a little, and lets out a shaky breath. He looks conflicted, but Dick can still see the walls coming down around him. He lets himself hope that this might go well when he starts seeing Bruce’s eye shine.

He waits another minute before he speaks again.

“Bruce, you might have had the best intentions possible. But you still came up short. You’ve pushed me and Jason away, you’re putting my siblings in danger, you’ve lied to me for years. You need to start explaining yourself.” He’s a little gentler with his tone this time.

Bruce almost chokes when he starts talking.

“It was never my intention to push you and Jason away,” Bruce says, his words hung with so many emotions it makes Dick’s heart seize in his chest. He’s never heard Bruce sound like this. “I was only trying to protect you, from the dangers of the life your brothers and I lead. Knowing puts you in danger, and I wasn’t about to risk that. Damian and Tim both knew what they were doing, getting into this. Tim hunted me down, and confronted me, told me he’d go out with or without me. I thought if he was going to go out anyway, I might as well equip him and train him properly, and provide him with some back up so he didn’t get himself killed. And it was a good outlet for his emotions after his parents died.

“Damian was a different story,” Bruce continues, scrubbing a hand over his face, and wincing when he brushes over the short, stitched cuts there. “I know Tim told you about Damian’s upbringing. He was violent, trying to take Tim out of the equation to take his rightful place at my side, when he first got here. I made him Blackbird to give him a different place to channel his energy. To teach him right from wrong. He’s made a lot of progress because of it. Cassandra was similarly well trained, brought up to be a weapon. She chose a different path for herself. I’m proud of her. And I am very careful with their wellbeing when we are in the field. I keep them away from the worst of it. Damian’s always with me. If Tim or Cassandra are out alone, Barbara is in constant contact with them. Stephanie too, though she’s newer to all of this. They all have emergency beacons in several places in their suits.”

That actually does settle Dick’s nerves a bit, but it doesn’t settle his anger or the deep-seated hurt that hasn’t stopped throbbing in his chest since he learned about this. But one thing at a time, he supposes. He really does feel better, knowing that Bruce has safety precautions in place to protect his siblings. Not good. But better.

“How about the whole lying thing?” he says, instead of telling Bruce any of that. “Was I just not good enough cause I’m not really your son?” His voice cracks.

Bruce sits up at that, smacking a hand down on the coffee table. It makes even Clark jump. “Never,” Bruce growls, “never speak of yourself that way, Richard. I may have failed you as a father in every way possible, but you have never been anything less than my son.”

“Then why didn’t you ever adopt me?” Dick asks again, and this time, his question breaks off with a choked sound.

“Because you had a family before I took you in. It was different than with the others who didn’t have family. You had a mother and father who loved you and I didn’t want to seem like I was trying to replace them. I wanted to adopt you from the moment I saw your parents fall, because I saw myself in you. Hell, I’ve had the adoption papers sitting in a drawer in my study since a month after you moved into the Manor. By the time it felt like I could offer it, you were moving out. I thought I was too late. So I added more to your trust fund and signed the penthouse over to you just before you turned eighteen in an effort to at least do something for you, because I didn’t know what else to do.”

Dick just blinks. He doesn’t know how to react to that at all. Bruce had given him the penthouse? Put more into the trust fund Dick’s barely so much as looked at?

He’d wanted to adopt Dick?

Dick, however, does not ask why Bruce did any of that. Instead, he says, “Bruce, that was five years ago. Why didn’t you ever say you _gave me the penthouse_?”

Bruce looks genuinely concerned. “I didn’t? Oh. I meant to. Why didn’t I?” he says, half addressing Dick, half thinking aloud. He stares at his hands, confusion knitting his brows together for a moment. “I could’ve sworn I told you that. What could’ve… Oh. I got called off world. I missed your birthday, I remember,” Bruce finally finishes, his voice strangely soft. Dick’s never seen Bruce behave this way, never heard him sound so meek. “I never apologized, did I? For missing all the birthdays.. Your graduations.”

Dick doesn’t feel satisfied, like he thought he would, to finally see Bruce knocked down like this.

He just feels sad.

He’s a little glad Jason didn’t come with him. He has the distinct impression that things wouldn’t be going very well if Jason were here, taking out years worth of frustrations on Bruce in a couple of hours.

Silence settles over them for a long moment, heavy, but not uncomfortable.

Clark stands and crosses the room to sit next to Bruce, placing a gentle hand on Bruce’s back. Bruce leans into him a little. It makes a smile flash across Dick’s face. Looks like Tim was right.

“You were always a very good provider, Bruce. Jason and I never wanted for anything after you took us in. You’ve always made sure we were well taken care of in that respect,” Dick admits, spreading his hands out in front of him. “The problem was, neither of us ever cared about all of that. We wanted a parent, not a provider. So maybe you tried, and thank you, for what you _have_ done, but you fell short on what really mattered to us.”

Bruce simply nods, conceding without so much as a word in arguement. “I’m coming to see that. I never meant to hurt you, Dick. You or Jason. I understand that I have been… sorely lacking in many areas. I want to begin making it up to you, if that’s at all possible.”

Dick doesn’t say anything for a long time, developing a sudden interest in his hands and the floor between his feet.

It must be minutes before he looks up and addresses Bruce again. “I’m not going to forgive you, Bruce. Not for all of this. You hurt me and Jason a lot, you’ve lied a lot, you’ve made my siblings lie. None of that is stuff that I can forget or get over. Not easily at least.” Bruce visibly deflates when Dick pauses. “But I want a dad and I want to know what my siblings are up to and I want to be able to come here without feeling like I’m in a stranger’s home. I want my family back. I can’t forgive you for all of this yet. Maybe not ever. But I don’t want it to keep us from having a real relationship,” Dick finishes, and Bruce’s face splits into a huge smile.

It is, in reality, a small smile, but given that Dick has never seen Bruce genuinely smile before, it is, comparitively, an enormous smile.

It disappears as fast as it came though, and is replaced with another expression Dick has never seen Bruce wear before. Uncertainty. Doubt.

“If you really want all of that, I was serious about the adoption papers. You’re an adult now, so it’s mostly a formality, but it could be a new start for us. Only if you want that, of course. I’d completely understand if your answer is no.”

Dick is stunned into silence with the offer.

Clark and Bruce watch him carefully, waiting for an answer he doesn’t know how to give.

~*~

Dick’s adoption is finalized three weeks later. Alfred witnesses it for them. Cassandra comes along, a smile fixed on her face the whole time. She signs rapidly to Bruce, then turns and simply says, “Dick,” in a very pleased tone. Bruce tells him she said she’s happy that’s he’s officially her brother now, but she considered him as much before, even if they didn’t know each other very well.

Dick makes a promise in that moment to learn sign language as quickly as he possibly can.

Wally takes him out to dinner to celebrate the day after and then spends the night at the penthouse. Dick wakes up the next morning with Wally’s arm thrown across the bare strip of skin where his shirt’s rucked up in his sleep, the speedster’s wild hair tickling his chin.

They take their time getting out of bed for breakfast, and Jason spends the whole time he’s cooking grumbling about how disgusting they are. Roy stumbles out of Jason’s room a few minutes later and presses a kiss to Jason’s shoulder, blinking bleary eyes the whole time, and Wally screeches at the scene. The whole breakfast devolves into a mess of jokes and playful insults.

Dick can’t remember the last time he was so happy.

~*~

Two weeks later, Jason leaves for classes in the morning as Dick’s heading out to work, and tells Dick he’ll be home late.

Dick gets home from his shift and Jason’s still not back.

An hour later and Dick’s starting to really worry.

Fifteen minutes later has Jason slamming the door shut behind him, a smug smile on his face and a thin cut on one of his knuckles.

“I punched Bruce in the face,” he says proudly, and then, “what’s for dinner?”

Dick can’t help but laugh.


	12. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> sometimes things do get wrapped up in a nice little bow, and everyone ends up happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i am so sad that this fic is coming to an end, but i am so happy that i was able to share this au with you all, because i love it so much. however! this universe is not coming to an end! i plan to write a few one-shots of things that happened off-screen in this fic, likely from other characters points of view. i am more than happy to accept prompts if there's anything specific you'd like to see!
> 
> in the meantime, there's now also a [dickwally playlist](http://grxysxns.tumblr.com/post/170166221676/golden-a-dickwally-playlist-for-golden-boys-with) to accompany this fic as well!

A week after Jason punches Bruce in the face, Bruce finally admits that he’s dating Clark over a family dinner, that Wally and Roy both get invited to as well. 

And because nothing in their family is ever tame, or normal, Bruce reveals that he’s dating Clark, by proposing to him, in front of the whole family, Wally, Roy, Babs and Steph included. Alfred has a smug look on his face. Dick thinks that he had a hand in planning this. 

There’s a bright red flush and a blinding grin on Clark’s face as he says yes and Bruce slips a simple gold band onto his finger. 

Wally squeezes Dick’s hand as they watch the scene unfold in front of them. 

They’ve only been dating for a little over a month, but Dick can see a dinner like this, slipping a ring on to Wally’s hand, starting a life together. He’s getting ahead of himself though. He’ll think of that later on. For now, he’s content to happily watch his father get engaged to Superman. 

~*~

Bruce and Clark get married eight months later, in the most spectacularly overdone scene Dick’s ever seen. Bruce has Dick as his best man, and Superboy, Conner, is Clark’s. There are reporters everywhere and people Dick hardly recognizes and the whole thing is mostly just stressful. But it’s beautiful and Bruce and Clark both look so happy that Dick can’t comment on the media circus. 

The reception is a much quieter affair, until Hal Jordan pops a bottle of champagne. After that point, the alcohol starts flowing freely and the Manor is filled to the brim with drunken Justice League members. Wally sticks to Dick’s side like glue, smiling and happy and just a little drunk off of some ghastly concoction designed to intoxicate a speedster. Roy and Jason are both stone-cold sober throughout the whole thing, but seem to be enjoying themselves nonetheless. Dick slips Tim a glass or three of champagne over the course of the night. Damian watches as Bruce finally lets go for the first time any of them can remember. 

It’s an exceptional night. 

Even after Hal flies into a chandelier.

~*~

On Dick and Wally’s one year anniversary, Wally takes him out to dinner, at the same restaurant they went to after Dick’s adoption was finalized. Dick’s surprised to find that his whole family is there waiting for them when they arrive. He has a moment where he thinks he’s gotten the date of their anniversary wrong, and that Wally’s just taking him out to be nice. He can’t think of how he could have possibly gotten the date of their anniversary wrong. He remembers their first date like it was yesterday. He spends nearly the whole dinner working himself into a tizzy, so concerned that he’s forgotten an important date. 

He hardly notices when Wally orders desert for the table, and the small plates are all brought out with glasses of champagne. The plate that gets placed in front of him is empty, and he notices that, is about to say something when he realizes. 

The plate is empty save a golden band with a tiny bird etched into it. 

Dick stares at it, slack jawed. 

“It’s a robin,” Wally says quietly, when he sees what Dick’s staring at. 

He gets down on one knee, takes the ring in one hand, and Dick’s hand in the other.

“Dick Grayson. I met you in the most unfortunate of ways. Our relationship began in the midst of what can lightly be put as a disaster.” Dick hears Bruce cough to try to cover a laugh at that. “And nevertheless, you said yes to me asking you out on a date and you let me into your life, and I remember thinking to myself, ‘my god, I cannot believe that such a beautiful man is even giving me the time of day’. But you gave me so much more than that, Dick. You have made me so incredibly, insanely happy. You wouldn’t even believe it. There are no words to express how happy you make me and how much I love you. I am irrevocably, entirely, head over heels in love with you. And that’s not even scratching the surface of it all. Will you make me even happier and let me call you my husband?”

Dick’s smiling through happy tears as he says yes, and Wally slips the ring onto his finger. 

He pulls Wally to his feet, and kisses him like there’s no tomorrow.

A picture of it winds up in every Gotham newspaper the next morning, and Dick cannot bring himself to care.

He’s far to happy for it to bother him.

~*~

Dick and Wally are four months into wedding planning when the Joker nearly kills Tim. 

Dick is shaken down to his very core, refuses to leave the Manor until he’s positive that Tim’s alright, that he’s not going to lose his little brother. 

Wally doesn’t leave his side. 

While Dick keeps vigil at Tim’s bedside, Clark tells him a story from his home world of Krypton. 

Two months later, with Bruce and Wally’s assistance, Nightwing takes to the streets of Gotham. 

Jason dons a helmet and calls himself the Hood and isn’t far behind.

And Gotham’s criminals? They don’t stand a chance against this family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -dick and wally get married exactly a year after wally proposes. it's a mostly quiet affair, with their family and a lot of friends. jason is dick's best man, and bart is wally's. it's the happiest dick's ever been.  
> -tim and steph break up very briefly, and then get back together when they realize how much they miss each other. he proposes with his mother's engagement ring, and they get married when they're 24.  
> -jason and roy get married without telling anyone but alfred and dinah, who are their witnesses. jason adopts lian not long after, and lian is the one who tells everyone that her dads are married after the fact. they love having lian, but they will not have anymore kids.  
> -cass and babs live together for the rest of their lives. they may not be related, but they are as good as family.  
> -dick and wally adopt ten year old twins, named nora and sean, a year and some change after they get married.  
> -tim and steph have a baby boy, who they name logan bruce drake, because bruce is a father to tim, and the strongest male role model in steph's life. dick is his godfather, and cass is his godmother, even though none of them are particularly religious.  
> -clark's son conner becomes tim's best friend and finds an easy place in the family, despite a little bit of a rocky start (he butts heads with jason. they're very similar people).  
> -damian is the world’s grumpiest uncle, but he loves his nieces and nephews with all his heart, though he’d never say that to his siblings (he tells the kids frequently, in his own way).  
> -when they all get older and it turns out dick and wally’s twins have abilities, damian is the one who trains them to become heroes (without their dads’ knowledge at first).  
> -bruce works on his parenting skills and is able to do much better for dick and jason now that there are no secrets between them. he finds he's much better at helping them along now that they're adults as well.

**Author's Note:**

> i'm on tumblr at _[grxysxns](http://grxysxns.tumblr.com/)_ , feel free to come shout about this with me!


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